electronics
Samsung builds another chip factory in the USA
Nothing works without chips: Smartphones in an electronics store. Photo: Armin Weigel / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The global shortage of chips is affecting many industries, not least the automotive industry. Samsung now has big plans in the USA: another chip factory is to be built in Texas.
Electronics giant Samsung is building another chip factory in the US for an estimated $ 17 billion. The South Korean company chose Taylor in the US state of Texas as its location.
The factory will be close to Samsung’s first US semiconductor facility in Austin, which has been there since the late 1990s. The start of construction is planned for the first half of 2022 with the aim of having the new system operational in the second half of 2024, announced the world’s largest manufacturer of memory chips, smartphones and televisions on Wednesday. US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said she was “enthusiastic” about the project in one of the country’s most important key industries.
The Samsung announcement came in the midst of a global chip shortage affecting various industries including the electrical industry and auto manufacturing. Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor vice chairman Kim Ki Nam said he expects the new factory to contribute to the stability of the global semiconductor supply chain. The company would like to thank the US government and Congress for their support in “quickly creating federal incentives for domestic chip production and innovation.”
The new facility will produce “products based on advanced process technology” for mobile applications, super-fast 5G radio data transmission, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence (AI), it said. It will occupy an area of more than five million square meters and, together with the production line in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, will serve as a key location for Samsung’s global semiconductor production.
Samsung also announced that it will directly create more than 2,000 high-tech jobs and thousands more by expanding its presence in the United States. The proximity to the existing production facility in Austin, which is 25 kilometers away, allows both locations to share the necessary infrastructure and resources.