Samsung Mulls Four US Locations For $17bn Chip Factory – Report

Samsung Electronics is considering four locations in the United States in which to build a brand new multi-billion dollar chip factory.

Reuters reported that it had seen documents filed with Texas state officials that reveal that the South Korean firm is mulling possible locations in Texas, Arizona and New York.

It should be noted that the previous Trump administration had encouraged chip firms to build factories in the United States. TSMC, after talks with the former President, announced in May 2020 that it planned to build a $12 billion factory in Arizona.

Samsung factory

According to Reuters however, the Texas documents revealing Samsung’s plans for a US chip factory were dated 26 February, and they also estimated tax abatements concerning the plant will be about $1.48 billion over 20 years from Travis County in Texas and the city of Austin, up from the $805.5 million previously mentioned.

Samsung however is also in talks with the sites at Arizona and New York, with each offering property tax abatement and “significant grants and/or refundable tax credits” to fund infrastructure improvements, the documents reportedly said.

It seems the new Samsung facility plans to build would produce “advanced logic devices” for Samsung’s chip contract manufacturing business, and could create 1,800 jobs, which will be a tempting prospect for many state officials.

Samsung it should be remembered already has a chip plant in Austin, Texas, which was knocked offline for a number of weeks after the severe winter storm caused widespread electricity and water shortages in the Lone Star state.

US scheme

Attempts by the US to lure chip firms to build factories in America have been ongoing for a while now.

One of the core promises of Trump’s election as US President in 2016 was his pledge to encourage companies to keep or create jobs in the United States rather than sending them abroad.

This meant retaining and encouraging firms to keep or build new factories in America.

Trump had some success in this regard among technology firms during his tenure.

In February 2017 for example then Intel CEO Brian Krzanich stood beside Donald Trump at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office to announce that the US chipmaker would invest $7 billion to open a factory (Fab 42) in Arizona, which it claimed at the time would be “the most advanced semiconductor factory in the world”.

Intel’s Fab 42 factory in Chandler, Arizona, began production in October 2020.

Apple boss Tim Cook also revealed in 2017 that his firm would establish a $1 billion (£776m) fund to promote advanced manufacturing jobs in the United States, although most of its iPhones are still manufactured in the far east.