Samsung (NASDAQ:SSNLF) is planning to build a $17-billion U.S. semiconductor factory near Austin, Texas as part of an effort to alleviate the global chip shortage.
The five-million-square-metre facility will boost production of advanced logic semiconductors, which are used in smartphones and computers.
Samsung said it expects work on the new chip plant to begin in the first half of 2022 and it hopes to have the site operational by the second half of 2024.
The total expected investment of $17 billion U.S. will be the largest investment Samsung has ever made in the U.S. The figure includes buildings, property improvements, machinery and equipment.
Samsung began operations in the U.S. in 1978 and today employs over 20,000 people across the country. The latest investment will bring Samsung’s total investment in the U.S. to more than $47 billion U.S., according to the company.
In February, President Joe Biden said domestic semiconductor manufacturing is a priority for his administration, and he hopes to fix ongoing chip shortages and address lawmaker concerns that outsourcing chipmaking had made the U.S. vulnerable to supply chain disruptions.
The vast majority of the world’s semiconductors are currently made in Asia, with Taiwan and South Korea being particular hotbeds of activity. The U.S. and Europe want to start making more of their own chips.
