Korean electronics giant Samsung is fighting the global chip shortage by building a massive semiconductor manufacturing facility in Taylor, Texas. The $17 billion factory will be Samsung’s largest-ever investment in the U.S., the company has announced.
The construction will break ground in the first half of 2022, with a target to get the factory operational in the second half of 2024. In total, the site will cover more than 5 million square meters. Samsung says Taylor was chosen due to proximity to Samsung’s manufacturing site in Austin, as well as other factors including the local semiconductor ecosystem, infrastructure stability, local government support, and community development opportunities. Once the new facility is in full operation, it should create 2,000 jobs.
Samsung says the new factory will manufacture products that are used in mobile, 5G, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence.
“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,” said Kinam Kim, vice chairman and CEO, Samsung Electronics Device Solutions Division.
Samsung is among the largest semiconductor makers in the world, producing chips both for its own devices and for other companies including Google and Nvidia, though it’s recently been eclipsed by Taiwan’s semiconductor giant TSMC, which took over the production of chips for Apple’s iPhone a few years back. The new facility in Texas should increase Samsung’s competitiveness in the advanced semiconductor market, especially with U.S.-based companies. It also might help alleviate the chip shortage should it continue for years, as some predict.
