Samsung to build semiconductor factory in Texas--for about 2 trillion yen

Samsung announced on November 24 that it plans to invest $ 17 billion to build a semiconductor factory in central Texas. It is a huge investment in the global semiconductor shortage.

The construction site is Taylor near Austin, which already has a Samsung production facility. Production of chips at the new factory is scheduled to begin in 2024.

Samsung is the largest smartphone and TV company, but it also sells memory chips to device makers around the world. Over the last few months, the pandemic has driven people to work from home and all of their online activities are stored in data centers, driving demand for electronics and boosting Samsung's chip business. ing.

However, the surge in demand for telecommuting devices such as PCs, tablets and webcams has exceeded the chip supply capacity of the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The shortage of chips quickly spread beyond demand in remote work and schools, affecting home entertainment devices such as tablets, game consoles, televisions, and graphics cards for gaming PCs.

The Joe Biden administration called on companies to be more transparent in supply and demand to address supply chain issues, and proposed to Congress the "Critical Supply Chain Resiliency Program."

"We would like to thank our partners in Texas, as well as the Biden administration for helping companies like Samsung to expand their cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing in the United States," said Samsung Electronics Device Solutions Division. Kinam Kim, CEO of the company, said in a statement.

This article was edited by Asahi Interactive for Japan from an article from overseas Red Ventures.