Japan Beefs Up Semiconductor Presence By Tying Up With Several Chipmakers, Latest Being Micron

Japanese government committed subsidies of up to $320 million to U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology, Inc MU to fortify supply chains against China.
The Micron deal followed months of negotiations to reduce heavy dependence on Taiwanese chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd TSM, the Financial Times reports.
The notice came within 48 hours of a meeting in Tokyo between U.S. VP Kamala Harris and senior executives of more than a dozen Japanese technology groups to discuss the U.S. Chips and Science Act.
Micron, which acquired Japan’s Elpida Memory in 2012, said it would use the investment to develop new Dram memory chips at its plant in Hiroshima.
In July, Japan committed up to ¥92.9 billion ($644 million) to Western Digital Corp WDC, the manufacturing partner of Japanese chipmaker Kioxia, to expand production in Japan.
In 2021, TSMC shared plans to build a $7 billion chip manufacturing plant in Japan with Sony Group Corp SONY. Japan agreed to subsidize half the investment.
Japan is also discussing cutting-edge technology with International Business Machines Corp IBM.
The global economy battled a semiconductor chip crisis which was aggravated due to the pandemic, severely disrupting the supply chains. Therefore, several companies decided to boost their semiconductor presence to reduce reliance on China.
Price Action: MU shares traded higher by 1.48% at $50.75 in the premarket on the last check Friday.