With its diversifications into personal computers and contract manufacturing, and its proposed acquisition of a controlling interest in Zeos International Ltd, Micron Technology Inc is putting the days when it was at the mercy of every whim of the memory chip market behind it, and annual turnover, let alone profit or loss, imitated a roller coaster: it intends to join the majors, and now feels strong enough to propose investing $1,300m in a new 900,000 square foot complex for its Micron Semiconductor unit, more than doubling its capacity. The Boise, Idaho company has not yet chosen a site for the complex, which will include an 8 wafer fabrication plant, assembly and test facilities and other buildings, but it wants to start construction in four to six months; full production capability may take three or four years. The fabrication facility will be designed to process 10,000 8 wafers a week in 0.25 micron geometries, and Micron envisages creating jobs for 3,500 employees, so although Boise is in with a chance to land it, Micron says that it is worried about the major impact that that number of incomers would have on the city infrastructure, particularly the school system.
