CNBC Marathon explores various tech companies manufacturing chips on U.S. soil.
Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix are responsible for making 90% of the world’s DRAM memory chips, and Micron is the only one based in the U.S. That’s made it the latest target of bans from China. Yet Micron is spending $115 billion to build the biggest chip project in U.S. history. CNBC visited Micron in Idaho and talked to Gov. Kathy Hochul in New York to hear about the new fabs. We also asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer about Micron ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Arm beat expectations in its first post-IPO earnings report in November 2023. Its low-power chip architecture is in nearly every smartphone, replaced Intel’s x86 processors in Apple’s Mac computers, and is the basis for Qualcomm’s PC processors, and Amazon’s data center chips. CNBC went to Arm in Cambridge, England, to find out how it became the year’s biggest IPO despite 20% of revenue coming from China, struggling smartphone sales, and a failed $40 billion acquisition attempt by Nvidia.
Texas has taken the top spot as the center of U.S. chip manufacturing. The Lone Star State now has more semiconductor fabrication plants than any other state, and six new projects will bring an estimated $61 billion of investment and 8,000 jobs. The integrated circuit was invented in Texas more than 60 years ago, and chip companies are attracted by low taxes, plentiful land, and the $1.4 billion Texas CHIPS Act passed in
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