Three of the world’s biggest DRAM memory chip manufacturers will spend a combined NT$450bn (£7.3bn) in building five new factories in Taiwan over the next two years.

Taiwan Semiconductor, Powerchip Semiconductor and Vanguard International Semiconductor say the production facilities are needed to cope with anticipated increases in global demand for memory and flash storage chips in computers and electronic devices.

Powerchip chairman Frank Huang predicted that there will be a global chip shortage from the fourth quarter of this year.