According to Samsung Electronics, Austin, Texas is one of the best sites for a new $17 billion chip plant
According to documents filed with Texas state authorities, Samsung Electronics is considering Austin, Texas, as one of the sites for a new $17 billion chip plant that the South Korean firm said could generate 1,800 jobs.
According to the records, the technology firm is seeking total tax savings of $805.5 million over 20 years from Travis County and the city of Austin, among other tax cuts.
In its filings, Samsung said that the company would break ground on the site in the second quarter of this year if Austin was chosen and that the plant would become operational in the third quarter of 2023.
“This project is highly competitive, and the company is looking at alternative sites in the US including Arizona and New York, as well as abroad in Korea…,” Samsung said in the documents.
Tesla, Qualcomm, and Nvidia are Samsung’s American clients for its contract manufacturing chip business.
The filing by Samsung said it aims to make “advanced logic devices,” indicating it will try to make consumers the smallest, fastest types of computing chips. In Austin, the company has an established chip plant that produces computing chips.
Samsung reported that it is considering expanding its chip facilities in a statement to Reuters, but no decision has been made yet.
The documents state that the project will require the development of 7 million square feet of new space on a 640-acre property already owned by the company.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer called on Samsung to set up a factory in his home state of New York, pledging to work to obtain federal incentives for the plant, which he said is crucial to the U.S. competing with China to improve the production of the local chip.
While Intel Corp produces such chips in the United States for itself, most contract manufacturers that manufacture them for external customers, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) Co Ltd and Samsung, retain most of their facilities in Taiwan and Korea.
Last year, TSMC, which counts Apple among its key customers, announced plans for a $12 billion chip plant in Arizona that is scheduled to be online by 2024.
Earlier, the Austin American-Statesman newspaper confirmed the filings with Texas authorities.
