Samsung Announces Massive New U.S. Project

Samsung on Wednesday officially announced that it is building a W20 trillion microchip factory in Taylor in the U.S. state of Texas (US$1=W1,189).

Samsung had also been considering Buffalo, New York and Arizona as the possible sites of its second U.S. chip foundry, but Taylor offered the biggest tax breaks and other incentives, and land is easier to get hold of than in more populous locations. The Korean electronics giant was promised a reported US$1 billion worth of tax breaks.

Samsung plans to build a 557,000 sq.m factory. Construction is slated to start in the first quarter of next year and completed in the second half of 2024. While Samsung's existing chip plant in Austin, Texas manufactures semiconductors for IT and communications devices based on 14-nanometer technology, the Taylor foundry is expected to focus on next-generation, 5-nanometer chips for artificial intelligence and data centers.

Meanwhile, Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai in Mountain View, California on Monday to discuss cooperation in system semiconductors, virtual reality, augmented reality and autonomous-driving technologies.

The two sides have been designing Google's smartphone application processors and boosting the Android alliance. Lee also visited Samsung's research center in Silicon Valley and urged workers there to "pioneer an uncharted future."