BOISE — Micron President Steve Appleton predicted that within a few years most of the company's sales will be in Asia, but there are no near-term plans to build in China.
The company already has four offices in the country, and in February, Micron's vice president of sales Mike Sadler said there would likely be a large manufacturing plant there within five years.
But during an analyst conference in Hong Kong on Friday, Appleton said there were no immediate plans. The conference was broadcast live on the Internet.
"Don't think that Micron is going to run out and put a fab in China in the short term," said Appleton, who heads the world's second-largest maker of electronic memory chips. "The cost structure is good, but labor cost is not a big factor for Micron."
Micron employs between 500 and 600 people at a chip-testing facility in Lehi.
Appleton acknowledged that there is debate within the memory chip industry over whether it makes sense to do manufacturing in China. Asian companies already account for about a third of the Boise company's sales.
Micron's largest expenses are in facilities and equipment, Appleton said.
"Wages in China for experienced technical people are a little less, but not that much less," he said. "If we wanted to do work there, we'd pay pretty close to what we pay here."
There are other disadvantages to any immediate building in China, he said, including the lengthy process of training a new work force, common power interruptions and a limited water supply for processing the silicon wafers from which memory chips are made.
But Appleton did not rule out China-based manufacturing plants in long-term plans. He said that as other high-tech firms build a skilled work force in China, it makes the country more attractive for other industries.
"There's no denying China is changing," Appleton said.