Samsung picks Texas for new $17 bn chip plant

Seoul: The South Korean tech giant Samsung said on Wednesday that it has chosen a site close to the city of Taylor in Texas for its new $17bn (£12.7bn) computer chip plant, amid a global shortage of semiconductors.

It is electronics giant's biggest-ever US investment.

The plant is expected to create 2,000 technology industry jobs, with construction starting early next year.

Samsung, like several of its rivals, is racing to expand chip making in the US to tackle supply chain issues.

"With greater manufacturing capacity, we will be able to better serve the needs of our customers and contribute to the stability of the global semiconductor supply chain," Kinam Kim, chief executive of Samsung electronics device solutions said.

The plant is expected to be operational by the second half of 2024.

It comes as US President Joe Biden has been pushing chip giants to increase their production in the US.

White House officials said the new facility would help "protect our supply chains, revitalise our manufacturing base and create good jobs".

"Increasing domestic production of semiconductor chips is critical for our national and economic security," US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said separately.

Chips made at the new facility will be used in a range of technologies including mobile, 5G, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.

Samsung is one of the world's largest chipmakers with more than 20,000 employees across the US.

The company said that the latest announcement takes its total investment in the world's biggest economy to $47bn.

The global chip shortage has been causing major disruptions for manufacturers, from carmakers that have had to suspend production to Apple warning that iPhone shipments would be delayed.

In September, Intel broke ground on two plants in Arizona and is widely expected to announce the location for a planned manufacturing campus by the end of the year. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is building a plant in Arizona and is said to be considering building more in the US.

By building a new fabrication plant in the US, Samsung is doubling down on contract chip manufacturing.