Samsung has made the final decision to construct its new EUV semiconductor factory in Austin, Texas. The company announced that it had looked into New York, Arizona, and Texas and decided that Texas would be best. The tech giant is yet to announce all its plans for the 5nm EUV facility however there is speculation that the company will be announcing their plans on May 21 during South Korea and America’s meeting between both their presidents at the white house. Samsung just temporarily closed its chip manufacturing facility in Austin due to harsh weather. The new factory will be equipped with 5nm EUV-based manufacturing lines, and therefore it will be responsible for creating Samsung’s future innovative chipsets.
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The company plans to have the new factory fully operational by 2024 with the budget for construction being set at US$18 billion, nearly twice as much as it was reported at the beginning of the year. It has been estimated that the new site will create around 1,800 new jobs. The US President, Joe Biden has announced a proposal for US$50 billion to support chip manufacturing which has encouraged tech companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Intel Corp to consider investing in the country.
The company also recently saw a large drop in its semiconductor business in the first quarter of 2021 partly due to the shutting down of the Austin factory but also due to the decline in NAND prices as well as the initial costs of a new line for the latest process node. Some American fabless companies who are in need of semiconductor foundries have reportedly grown more reluctant towards signing long-term agreements with the South Korean-based company because it maintains two-way diplomacy with both China and the US. This therefore there’s a higher risk of the supply chain being disrupted by political events.
