On July 4, 2026, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo reported that "semiconductor giant US Micron Technology has begun strengthening its production facilities for next-generation memory for artificial intelligence (AI) at its Hiroshima plant."

The article cited Japanese media reports and conveyed the scene of the groundbreaking ceremony for the new manufacturing building at the Hiroshima plant. The total investment is approximately 1.5 trillion yen, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will subsidize up to 536 billion yen.

Micron acquired the Hiroshima plant by purchasing Elpida Memory, a Japanese DRAM manufacturer that went bankrupt in 2012. It is currently one of the company's main production bases for DRAM and HBM.

This expansion is said to be part of a production expansion strategy to address the global memory shortage. In the newly established manufacturing building, the production of advanced products such as next-generation DRAM processes and HBM4E, used for AI calculations, is being considered. Japanese reports state that "manufacturing equipment will be moved into the new facility from the latter half of 2028, and production capacity will be gradually expanded."

The Chosun Ilbo article predicted that Micron's equipment expansion "will act as medium-to-long-term competitive pressure on the structure of the HBM market, where SK Hynix has taken the lead, followed by Samsung Electronics and Micron," and conveyed that the competition among the three memory companies over the next-generation HBM market is likely to intensify further after 2028.

Regarding this article, South Korean internet users commented: "No company in the world would invest in South Korea, where there's something like the terrible 'Yellow Envelope Law' (South Korea's revised labor union law which allows subcontracted workers to directly negotiate with prime contractors and limits claims for damages by companies due to strikes)," "Government subsidies... South Korea has no such thing," "Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix should also move their bases abroad. If they stay here, everything will be taken from them," and "Labor costs are cheaper in Japan."