Samsung is reportedly delaying the launch of its Taylor, Texas, fab, citing difficulties in securing customers for its output. Sources told Nikkei Asia that even if the South Korean chipmaker brings in the necessary equipment to produce chips at the new plant, the company cannot do anything with them due to the lack of demand.
Aside from that, the original planned process node for the Taylor plant is no longer aligned with current demand, highlighting the rapid pace of semiconductor technology.
The chip maker started construction on the Taylor fab in 2022, with an initial investment of $17 billion. By 2024, the company decided to increase this to $44 billion, with the addition of another advanced fab and expanded R&D operations. This move is supported by a $6.6-billion CHIPS Act subsidy, which was finalized in December last year, despite multiple delays and setbacks.
I’m incredulous that they only just realized it was a waste of money. Something changed. Either they only built it to get U.S. subsidies, or somerhing the current administration did killed demand. Which is it? I suspect it’s the second option.
Upon reading the whole thing, it seems Samsung failed to plan for the obvious, as TSMC is doing just fine in the U.S. with the same tech.
Buyers know tsmc is reliable and already up and running. Making a large order of needed chips out of a factory that is incomplete, doesn’t have the required staff, may have issues finding the staff, and has already had to attempt retrofitting in an entirely new processing and equipment line for 2nm nodes while Samsung has been having issues at their other plants with qc, while the plant has already had delays in opening seems like a very risky move. I wouldn’t want to order anything through them I needed before the plant was up and running, and shown to actually produce good chips.