Those industry and geopolitical forces increased support for the federal chip legislation. To chip makers, it has been clear since the Trump administration that manufacturing in the United States would be encouraged and imports would be threatened with trade curbs. The final bill attracted both a rare measure of bipartisan backing in Congress and a rare endorsement of industrial policy.
In recent months, the chip market cycle has swung down. Covid-related lockdowns in China, the war in Ukraine and inflation have affected consumer spending, as many economies struggle or head for recession.
Personal computer shipments, for example, are expected to decline nearly 13 percent this year, according to IDC, a research firm. Smartphone sales are also soft.
Micron is a leading producer of memory and data storage chips used in personal computers, smartphones, data centers, cars and an array of other electronic products. The company, based in Boise, Idaho, reported a 20 percent falloff in sales in its most recent quarter, to $6.64 billion, and a 45 percent decline in profit, to $1.49 billion.
But beyond the current cycle, the demand for memory chips is expected to grow, doubling by the end of the decade, according to industry estimates.
The company joins other major chip makers in expanding operations in the United States. Intel, banking on investment incentives, announced in January its plan to invest $20 billion to build two chip plants in Ohio.
In late 2021, Samsung said it would build a $17 billion plant in Texas. It later raised the possibility of adding several more in the state with a total long-term investment of nearly $200 billion. In 2020, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company announced it would construct a $12 billion factory in Arizona.
