TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Winbond Electronics Corp. on Monday approved a capital expenditure budget of NT$35.5 billion (US$1.16 billion) to expand production and strengthen research and development as artificial intelligence reshapes global memory demand.

The investment marks a major step for the Taiwanese memory chipmaker, representing a nearly 5.7-fold increase from the NT$5.3 billion announced in February. It will be one of the company’s largest capacity expansion projects in recent years, according to CTEE.

Winbond said the funds will be allocated for production equipment, plant construction, and research and development facilities, with spending to begin in phases starting October. Financing will come from a mix of internal resources and bank loans.

The expansion aims to position Winbond for its next phase of growth as memory prices rebound and factory utilization returns to full capacity.

Winbond President Chen Pei-ming (陳沛銘) said structural changes in the DRAM market have strengthened since mid-year. Customers are increasingly seeking long-term partnerships and even multi-year contracts to secure DDR4 supply.

As major suppliers such as Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have redirected production to high-bandwidth memory and DDR5, DDR4 supply has tightened, opening opportunities for Winbond to increase market share.

Different generations of SDRAM (synchronous dynamic random-access memory), including DDR, DDR2, and DDR3, have distinct characteristics. DDR4 enhances signal integrity, improves data transmission, reduces power consumption, and increases storage reliability.

At the same time, demand for NOR Flash products has also improved, with prices beginning to rise. Winbond remains confident it can achieve its NT$100 billion annual revenue target by next year.