Micron’s latest production upgrade plan is to collaborate with Inotera Memories in Taiwan with a capital expenditure of NT$50 billion for next year. In Japan, Micron will primarily invest in Elpida Memory’s Hiroshima factory, and it will invest a sum of approximately NT$26.4 billion. A total amount of NT$76.4 will be invested in Taiwan and Japan.

Inotera Memories Chairman Gao Qi-quan stated that this does not mean increasing the number of new factories, but instead, due production upgrades, there will be no need to worry about excess supply risks.

Inotera Memories currently has a production capacity of 120,000 30nm wafers per month, and in the future at least eighty percent will be changed to 20nm wafer production. Assuming the same yield, the production cost per unit of 20nm wafer output could be several times lower than the cost for 30nm wafers.

Micron predicts that after Japan and Taiwan have switched to 20nm production costs, the unit output for wafers will increase by 20%, and the production costs will be drastically reduced.

Currently Micron’s second quarter global DRAM market share is approximately 25.2%, which is third in the world and only approximately 2% behind the second-place company, SK Hynix. However, Micron still trails behind Samsung’s 39.1% market share.