Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2: I am pleased to say I am joined now by
Speaker 2: the Micron CEO President and Chairman, Sanjay Morotra. Sanjay, it's
Speaker 2: so nice to see you, and thanks so much for
Speaker 2: joining us here on Bloomberg Television and Radio. We are
Speaker 2: here in Manassas, Virginia to mark the start of the
Speaker 2: one Alpha DRAM manufacturing in the United States for one
Speaker 2: of the most highly advanced and widely used memory chips.
Speaker 2: I know Micron has a commitment to onshore forty percent
Speaker 2: of its DRAM manufacturing. Can you just give us a
Speaker 2: little bit of insight how does today help you with
Speaker 2: achieving that goal.
Speaker 1: So, first of all, Tyler, thank you very much for
Speaker 1: having me on the show. In terms of what today means,
Speaker 1: it really means, as you noted, bringing the most advanced
Speaker 1: DDR for memory built with one Alpha technology, which is
Speaker 1: critical for industries like automotive, aerospace, defense, industrial networking. These
Speaker 1: are critical industries that powered America and by us bringing
Speaker 1: this technology from Asia into now manufacturing here, it will
Speaker 1: help us quadruple our production here at this site in Manassas.
Speaker 1: For that DDR for memory, this is going to be
Speaker 1: huge for our customers in those key sectors. Memory today
Speaker 1: is absolutely key across all industries that have electronic systems,
Speaker 1: and Micron is of course investing in Boise, Idaho building
Speaker 1: our leading edge fab that's for leading age memory that
Speaker 1: goes into smartphones, PCs, servers, and that leading edge memory
Speaker 1: in Boise, Idaho will bring first wapers out middle of
Speaker 1: next year and then ramp up from there on. We'll
Speaker 1: have a second fab in Boise, Idaho soon to follow
Speaker 1: that start first wafers by end of twenty twenty eight
Speaker 1: eight there and then we have production planned for Syracuse,
Speaker 1: New York area, where we will build over time a
Speaker 1: mega cluster or four fabs. And you can see two
Speaker 1: hundred billion dollars of investments that Micron is making here
Speaker 1: in America to bring these long life cycle production that
Speaker 1: will be managed here in Manassas, Virginia, along with production
Speaker 1: in Boise, Idaho and Syracuse, New York, and that will
Speaker 1: bring Micron's total production over the course of about next
Speaker 1: ten years as we ramp up all these multiple fabs
Speaker 1: to about forty percent of our production. By comparison, it
Speaker 1: is about ten percent today, and all of that ten
Speaker 1: percent comes from this site here in Manassas for Micron,
Speaker 1: and this will totally our investments, massive investments in long
Speaker 1: life cycle technology nodes as well as leading as technology
Speaker 1: nodes to serve these vast markets that really surging in
Speaker 1: demand driven by AI. Micron is going to be bringing
Speaker 1: those investments that's semiconductive manufacturing and in the process create
Speaker 1: ninety thousand new jobs here in the US as well.
Speaker 2: Well. On this point of demand and how this investment
Speaker 2: is seeking to help breach that growing demand, I'm wondering
Speaker 2: how long do you expect the shortage of memory chips
Speaker 2: to last? When can we expect an easing.
Speaker 1: Of course, the demand for memory has really searched, and
Speaker 1: that is because of the importance and the value and
Speaker 1: the capability of memory that is really essential for all
Speaker 1: advanced systems. And yes, there is a shortage, but Micron
Speaker 1: is working hard to increase supply through these projects here
Speaker 1: in America here in Manassas, Virginia, Boise, and New York.
Speaker 1: And we see this shortage continuing beyond, well beyond twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six timeframe. But the important thing is that Micron
Speaker 1: is working hard with our customers working also on the
Speaker 1: long term the supply agreements with our customers to really
Speaker 1: ensure that they can have predictability for supply, and of
Speaker 1: course Micron can have the confidence for the investments that
Speaker 1: we are really committing to here for the long haul.
Speaker 2: Well. Historically, memory is a cyclical business, right periods of boom,
Speaker 2: periods of bus I'm wondering if a two hundred billion
Speaker 2: dollar investment here in the US signals perhaps more of
Speaker 2: a confidence that that demand, that high demand is going
Speaker 2: to be permanent, or are their concerns here that the
Speaker 2: industry could be overbuilding capacity.
Speaker 1: You know, of course, what we are doing is building
Speaker 1: these fabs which are very long lead time items. As
Speaker 1: you can see in terms of what we are doing
Speaker 1: it Boise in New York, it really takes several years
Speaker 1: just to build construct the shell. How we equip that
Speaker 1: shell really very much depends on our greatest assessments of
Speaker 1: demand at a given time. So important thing is to
Speaker 1: have that preparedness to meet the market demand, and Memory
Speaker 1: has become a key enabler. It is a strategic asset
Speaker 1: for our customers today. It is a strategic asset for
Speaker 1: AI across consumer as well as data center industries because
Speaker 1: without memory, you don't really have that intelligence that is
Speaker 1: critically important for the future roadmaps that our customers have,
Speaker 1: so memory is critical. Our investments, of course, will always
Speaker 1: be managed with discipline. Today we are able to meet
Speaker 1: the demand of our key customers only about fifty percent
Speaker 1: to about two thirds in many cases, and it's really
Speaker 1: important that we of course bring up this supply with
Speaker 1: discipline and continue to really fuel the growing provide. Then
Speaker 1: this is served the necessary demand that is ahead.
Speaker 2: Where are your biggest bottlenecks right now in the supply chain?
Speaker 2: And I'm wondering how labor fits into that picture, because
Speaker 2: a lot of the announcement here today was about boosting
Speaker 2: jobs here in the US.
Speaker 1: As I mentioned earlier, I mean our investments will create
Speaker 1: ninety thousand new jobs. These are high paying jobs. Of course,
Speaker 1: Micron is very much focused on engaging with the communities,
Speaker 1: with the colleges and universities, with really local systems in
Speaker 1: order to even support and advance apprenticeships. So we are
Speaker 1: very much focused on investing for the training and development
Speaker 1: of the workforce across the United States, particularly in the
Speaker 1: regions where Micron plans to have these fabs, and that
Speaker 1: is of course an important critical priority in terms of
Speaker 1: the bottleneck. In terms of bringing up the supply, of course,
Speaker 1: it is the construction that is really long tent in
Speaker 1: the poll and as construction happens, then it is about
Speaker 1: bringing in the equipment and qualifying the lines, which also
Speaker 1: takes some period of time. And that's why we see
Speaker 1: that meaningful new supply in the industry doesn't really start
Speaker 1: ramping until twenty twenty eight timeframe, because our Boise, Idaho
Speaker 1: fab will have first wave fas out middle of next
Speaker 1: year and subsequent fabs will have wafirs out later in
Speaker 1: the future as well.
Speaker 2: Does it advantage you to be the only American company
Speaker 2: in this space working with the Trump administration in this way,
Speaker 2: I'm wondering if you could shed any light on that,
Speaker 2: and where does this position you against your largest competitors
Speaker 2: like Samsung, Skhiex when it comes to market share.
Speaker 1: I'm very proud of Micron's team, and of course very
Speaker 1: proud that we are the only US memory manufacturer in
Speaker 1: memory today is absolutely critical for everything electronic system So yes,
Speaker 1: very proud, and of course our customers here in the
Speaker 1: US very much value our investments in the US. They
Speaker 1: value resilient, secure, supply chains that Micron is investing in
Speaker 1: to support their future growing requirements. We are very pleased
Speaker 1: with the partnership, the engagement. We are very thankful to
Speaker 1: President Trump and his administration and his focus on bringing
Speaker 1: leading edge manufacturing here to America to support a wide
Speaker 1: range of our industries. And our partnership with the administration
Speaker 1: is strong. As you saw, I mean, Secretary Lutnik as
Speaker 1: well as Investor Greer made strong comments in support of
Speaker 1: our investments today. We are very thankful to President Trump
Speaker 1: for the support, and we are very much focused on
Speaker 1: making our supply grow so that we can meet our
Speaker 1: customers requirements, but have it grow in a discipline manner,
Speaker 1: focusing on of course always demand and supply, of course
Speaker 1: accelerating the timeline for our investments as much as possible.
Speaker 2: In the final minute that I have you you mentioned
Speaker 2: US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik, who gave remarks today. I
Speaker 2: think it's fair to say that he's been pretty integral
Speaker 2: in the administration's perhaps more hands on industrial policy, including
Speaker 2: when it comes to taking stakes in companies. The US
Speaker 2: government has done this to try to spur the kind
Speaker 2: of production that Micron's doing, but I'm wondering have you
Speaker 2: had any conversations with the administration about that.
Speaker 1: Our discussions with that Mistationian are always focused on bringing
Speaker 1: up supply.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: The President Trump as well as Secretary Lutnik are always
Speaker 1: focused on how do we go bigger, how do we
Speaker 1: go faster, particularly you know, when the supply is tight.
Speaker 1: And Micron is a technology leader today, we had a
Speaker 1: global technology leader today. Our dram as well as nan
Speaker 1: technology are most advanced ahead of others in the industry.
Speaker 1: Leveraging that technology leadership and building the future of America
Speaker 1: with large scale manufacturing is absolutely a priority of President Trump,
Speaker 1: Secretary Lutnik, and our discussions with the administration.
Speaker 2: All Right, Sanjay Morocha, the CEO of Micron, also the
Speaker 2: president and chair, thank you so much for joining us
Speaker 2: here live on Bloomberg Television and Radio.