Vietnam’s prime minister met with Lam Research as the company looked at diversifying its supply chain due to U.S. export controls. Lam Research’s Group Vice President of Global Operations Karthik Rammohan went to Hanoi to “evaluate opportunities to diversify our supply chain and support manufacturing operations in Asia.” Vietnam is urging the company to invest $1 billion in local production.
The government said on its website that Lam would work with Seojin, a South Korean business with factories in the provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, a Vietnamese stronghold of Samsung phone and semiconductor production.
China accounts for 26% of Lam Research’s income in 2023, down from 31% in 2022. It sources tin and tungsten from eight companies in Vietnam, including Alibaba-backed Masan, but said it had no current plans for expansion.
“We believe that Vietnam, with its infrastructure and skilled workforce, will play an important role in the semiconductor value chain as the industry continues to geographically diversify,” Jeanette Tan, Lam Research vice president for Asia communications, told Nikkei.
Amid the China-U.S. tech war, Hanoi has been sharing its plan to train 50,000 semiconductor engineers, designers, and other staff, a number it increased to 100,000 in the latest government post.
