Construction of Micron's new fab building "Fab 11E" in Taoyuan, Taiwan, has come to a near standstill, Bloomberg reported on November 5, 2026. The building was scheduled to begin operating in 2028, and the investment, including the purchase of manufacturing equipment, is estimated at US$3 billion to US$4.5 billion. Micron, however, says operations at its existing fabs are continuing as normal, so the halt in new-building construction needs to be distinguished from current production. In Taiwan, talks with the union in Taichung on improved pay and benefits have reached an agreement, but negotiations over profit sharing continue in Taoyuan, casting uncertainty over future capacity expansion plans.
Bloomberg reports construction halt at Fab 11E, slated to start operating in 2028
According to the Taipei Times of November 6, which republished the Bloomberg report, Micron plans to freeze construction of Fab 11E after completing small-scale work needed to secure the site. However, this comes from anonymous sources, and Micron has not formally announced any change to its construction plans. No timing for a resumption of construction has been disclosed either.
Fab 11E was planned to produce high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI, as well as DRAM. The investment budget of US$3 billion to US$4.5 billion includes the purchase of semiconductor manufacturing equipment from ASML. In other words, the figure reflects the scale of investment for the entire fab, including production equipment, not just the cost of constructing the building. The planned start of operations was 2028, and if the construction freeze drags on, it could affect the expansion of future DRAM and HBM supply capacity. But no new start date or resumption timing has been given, so the scale of any delay cannot be judged at this point.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Micron said current operations are continuing as normal and that it is confident in business continuity, including supply to customers. According to Bloomberg, however, the company did not respond to questions about construction of Fab 11E. The statement describes only the state of existing facilities and does not mean the new building's construction is proceeding as planned.
Bloomberg also reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Micron has told Taiwanese officials and suppliers of its plan to halt construction. The Taoyuan city government, however, says it has received no notification. The report does not specify which officials were notified, and it is unclear whether the Taoyuan city government was among them. It is therefore impossible to conclude that the Taiwanese government as a whole has confirmed the halt, or that the two accounts are in direct conflict.
Pay deal reached in Taichung, while profit sharing is the sticking point in Taoyuan
Labor-management negotiations at Micron in Taiwan stand at different points: an agreement has been reached in Taichung, while talks continue in Taoyuan. In a statement released by Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs on October 22, the ministry welcomed the agreement with the Taichung union and urged continued dialogue and consultation in Taoyuan as well. At that point, labor negotiations across Taiwan had not been settled.
The improvements described by the ministry include raising the employer's retirement pension contribution rate to 10%. The day-shift rotating-shift allowance was tripled, from NT$1,500 to NT$4,500. However, it is the shift allowance that tripled, not base pay as a whole.
Examples of substantial increases in engineers' compensation were also given. The ministry's announcement cited examples in which pay for entry-level engineers rises from NT$1.45 million to NT$4 million, and for mid-level and senior engineers from over NT$2 million to NT$6 million. Bloomberg describes these as annual compensation, which may include bonuses and other pay in addition to base salary. They should therefore not be read as meaning that fixed salaries for all employees will be raised uniformly and permanently to these levels.
Meanwhile, what the Taoyuan union is seeking goes beyond higher wages and allowances: it wants a revision of the profit-sharing system. Jerry Lin, chairman of the Taoyuan union, told Bloomberg that the union is demanding that 15% of Micron's operating profit be distributed to employees worldwide, paid in cash rather than stock. The 15% is a union demand, not a condition the company has accepted. With corporate earnings growing on the back of surging AI demand, how to share performance-linked profits with employees has become the focus of the negotiations.
Lin also said the union aims to encourage Taichung employees to join and to renegotiate the agreement already reached. This is the union's stated future direction, however, and the Taichung deal has not been nullified. Whether the improved pay in Taichung was achieved is a separate question from whether agreement can be reached on the profit-sharing system the Taoyuan side is seeking.
Tom's Hardware's November 5 article also covered the profit-sharing mechanism as a main point of contention and reported that Micron and the union were scheduled to hold further talks on November 6. The outcome of those talks could not be confirmed at this time.
What the halt means: uncertainty over future capacity expansion
In this report, it is important to distinguish among the state of Fab 11E construction, the operation of existing fabs, and the labor agreement in Taichung. Each concerns a different subject and a different point in time, so the construction-halt report should not be read as meaning that Micron's production across Taiwan has stopped. Putting together the November 5–6 reports and the October 22 official announcement gives the following picture.
| Subject | Date confirmed | Source | Status and what can be concluded |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Taoyuan building Fab 11E | Reported Nov. 5, 2026 | Bloomberg / Taipei Times republication | Construction reportedly nearly halted and to be frozen after safety-related work. Any change to the 2028 start or resumption timing is unconfirmed |
| Operation of existing fabs | Reported Nov. 5, 2026 | Micron statement / same report | Company says current operations continue as normal. This is not a response on the new building's construction plans |
| Agreement with Taichung union | Oct. 22, 2026 | Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs | Agreement on improved pay and benefits reached. Talks continue in Taoyuan, so this does not mean negotiations across Taiwan have ended |
The November 6 follow-up talks reported by Tom's Hardware were still only planned at the time of publication, and neither the negotiation outcome nor the timing of any resumption of Fab 11E construction has been confirmed. From the information above, it is not possible to calculate the actual drop in output or the losses caused by the construction halt.
The importance of Taiwan's production sites to Micron's business is also essential to understanding this report. According to Bloomberg, Taiwan accounts for about 60% of Micron's global conventional DRAM production. However, this 60% is the share for Taiwan as a whole and does not indicate the production capacity of Fab 11E alone. Nor is it the same as Micron's share of the global DRAM market.
What the construction-halt report directly indicates is that uncertainty has arisen over the expansion of future supply capacity. Micron itself says current operations are continuing as normal, so the halt at Fab 11E cannot be equated with a stoppage of production at existing fabs. Because the new building's monthly capacity and any new start date have not been disclosed, there is also no basis for estimating the specific impact on supply or the extent of any rise in memory prices.
The focus going forward is on the terms under which the profit-sharing negotiations in Taoyuan are settled, and on what position Micron presents on the construction and start-up plans for Fab 11E. Once progress in the labor talks and the timing of any construction resumption become clear, the impact of this issue on future DRAM and HBM supply plans will be easier to judge more concretely.