Micron freezes $4.5B Taiwan chip fab as union standoff deepens

Micron Technology has frozen construction on Fab 11E, its planned advanced DRAM plant in Taoyuan, Taiwan, citing mounting uncertainty in labor negotiations. The company says it has briefed Taiwanese officials and its suppliers on the halt, which was reported on November 5, 2026. The facility carried a budget reported between $3 billion and $4.5 billion, with total spending potentially reaching the top of that range once ASML's lithography equipment is factored in.

The fuse was lit on October 22, when the Taoyuan union staged a warning strike — the first walkout in Taiwan's semiconductor industry. The union speaks for between 2,300 and 3,000 of the roughly 3,000 workers at the site, meaning it represents most of the local workforce. Its asks are steep: a one-time bonus equal to 83 months' salary, plus a profit-sharing plan handing workers 15% of quarterly operating profits. Micron put counter-offers on the table; the union called them insufficient.

Not every Micron site on the island is tangled up in the fight. The larger Taichung union struck a labor-management agreement with the company on October 21, just one day before Taoyuan workers walked out. Micron says its other Taiwanese operations are running as usual.

Fab 11E was built to churn out advanced DRAM using extreme ultraviolet lithography — the fast, short-term memory that servers lean on while they work, and that AI systems devour in enormous volumes. That's why memory makers have been sprinting to add capacity, and why Micron competes head-to-head with Samsung and SK Hynix in the race to feed the AI boom.

Taiwan is Micron's center of gravity. The island accounts for 50% to 60% of the company's total output and roughly 15,000 of its workers. Micron's cumulative investment there tops NT$1.6 trillion, or about $50 billion, making it the largest foreign investor in the region.

The longer the pause drags, the more it could crimp Micron's ability to answer AI-driven memory demand — and potentially tighten supply while rivals keep building. The Taichung deal offers a possible template if both sides land somewhere between Micron's current offers and that 83-month bonus request. If they don't, more strikes remain on the table, and Taiwan's chip sector has already tasted its first one.