New $17 bn US plant will help ease global chip crunch: Samsung

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics said on Wednesday it has selected the city of Taylor in Texas, the US, as the site of its new $17 billion chip fabrication plant, a move to boost production amid a global chip shortage.

The decision came five months after the tech giant announced a plan to build a second, next-generation chip plant in the US, and as the chip supply crunch caused global automobile and consumer electronics companies to slash their production.

Samsung said it had considered multiple factors, including “the local semiconductor ecosystem, infrastructure stability, local government support and community development opportunities.”

Also the proximity to its current manufacturing site in Austin, about 25 kilometers southwest of

Taylor, will enable “the two locations to share the necessary infrastructure and resources,” an agency report said.

The move will help Samsung lay “the groundwork for another important chapter in our future,” said Kim Ki-nam, VC-CEO of Samsung’s device solutions division. “With greater manufacturing capacity, we will be able to better serve the needs of our customers and contribute to the stability of the global semiconductor supply chain,” he said.

The new investment will also bring “more jobs” and support “the training and talent development of local communities,” Kim said, as “Samsung celebrates 25 years of semiconductor manufacturing in the US.” It will be the largest foreign direct investment in Texas on record, according to the office of the Texas Gov Greg Abbott.

Samsung celebrates 25 years of making semi-conductors in the US, says Kim Ki-nam, VC-CEO, Device Solution division