Micron Taiwan Plant Paused, Threatening More Memory Shortages
Micron has frozen work on its $4.5 billion Fab 11E in Taiwan over a pay fight with workers. Could that keep RAM, SSD and console prices high into 2028?
Hakkı ALKANPublished 3 min read
The Micron Taiwan plant known as Fab 11E has been put on hold. Micron has all but stopped construction of the memory chip factory in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, because of a long labor dispute, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The project carried a budget of $3 billion to $4.5 billion, including tools from ASML, the Dutch maker of chipmaking machines. Fab 11E was supposed to start producing DRAM, the working memory inside PCs, phones and AI servers, in 2028. Only safety work continues on the site, and that will also stop once it is finished.
Why Did Micron Stop Building Fab 11E?
Workers want a bigger share of the record profits Micron is earning from the AI boom. The Taoyuan union is asking the company to hand 15% of operating profit to employees worldwide, paid fully in cash rather than partly in stock. Samsung and SK Hynix have adopted similar profit sharing schemes.
Micron signed a deal with its larger union in Taichung in October. Taiwan's economy ministry says that agreement more than doubles junior engineers' average annual pay to NT$4 million, about $121,000. However, the smaller Taoyuan union is now recruiting Taichung members to try to cancel the pact and force new talks. A third round of negotiations is set for November 6, with labor ministry officials attending.
What Does Micron Say?
Micron did not confirm the suspension directly. The company said its operations in Taiwan are running as normal and that it is confident it can protect business continuity for customers. Reuters noted it could not independently verify the report. Micron shares slipped in premarket trading after the news.
Why Does the Micron Taiwan Plant Matter for Buyers?
Taiwan makes about three fifths of Micron's conventional memory chips, so any delay there hits a market that is already short of supply. AI data centers are soaking up DRAM and high bandwidth memory as big tech AI spending keeps climbing. Those shortages are already showing up in consumer hardware, from laptops to consoles, as seen in falling Switch 2 sales after price hikes tied partly to memory costs.
In our view, this is the part of the AI boom that rarely makes headlines. Memory makers are flush with cash, and the people building the chips want their cut. If talks fail and Micron moves capacity elsewhere, the 2028 relief many buyers are counting on could slip, and RAM and SSD prices may stay high for longer.
Micron Fab 11E at a Glance
| Company | Micron Technology |
| Plant | Fab 11E, Taoyuan, Taiwan |
| Budget | $3 billion to $4.5 billion |
| Planned production | 2028 |
| Cause of pause | Union dispute over profit sharing |
| Union demand | 15% of operating profit, all cash |
| Next talks | November 6, 2026 |