Samsung Investing $4 Billion in Austin, Texas to Boost Smartphone Processor Production

[MacRumors]

Samsung today announced that it will spend roughly $4 billion to revamp some of its existing facilities in Austin, Texas in order to boost production of its system-on-a-chip platforms that power a number of mobile devices including Apple's iOS products.

The funds will be used to renovate its existing fabrication operations to accommodate full System LSI production.

The remodeled fabrication line will mainly produce state-of-the-art mobile SoCs on 300mm wafers at the 28nm process node.

Starting work this month, the project is scheduled to initiate mass production within the second half of 2013. About 2,500 construction workers and equipment vendors will be at the site to retrofit the facility and set up the equipment.

Samsung's Austin chip production facilities (Source: Alberto Martinez/Austin American-Statesman)​

As noted by the Austin American-Statesman, Samsung will be converting older facilities currently used for memory chip production.

Although Samsung does not say exactly who it is making the new chips for, technology industry analysts say the Austin factory is a key maker of low-power system chips.

The two key customers of the Austin fab, analysts say, are almost certain to be Apple Inc., which depends on Samsung to make essential smartphone chips, and Samsung's own smartphone business.

Austin is already a hub for both Samsung's system-on-a-chip production and Apple, with Samsung having opened a new factory dedicated to production of Apple's A5 chips just last December and Apple currently pursing a major expansion of its existing presence in the city.

Article Link: Samsung Investing $4 Billion in Austin, Texas to Boost Smartphone Processor Production

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Bravo!! USA!!!

 

[World Citizen]

4 bil for a fence around the roof and a fence in every window...

 

[Sensation]

Im going to rustle some Galaxy S3 phones!

 

[MacFather]

Deleted.

 

[pgiguere1]

4 bil for a fence around the roof and a fence in every window...

The article isn't about Foxconn.

 

[Puevlo]

Apple should stop giving money to these bottom feeders. Make your own fabrication labs Apple.

 

[Twinsbb17]

Kudos for Texas for continuing to attract companies to expand, build new facilities, and promote growth. It's amazing what a business-friendly climate will do for a state.

 

[Skika]

I wonder why Samsung doesn't build these factories in China?

 

[dokujaryu]

I'm moving there next month! Austin is booming!

 

[samcraig]

Apple should stop giving money to these bottom feeders. Make your own fabrication labs Apple.

Is this post sincere/serious? There are no words...

 

[cvaldes]

I wonder why Samsung doesn't build these factories in China?

Better steakhouses in Austin.

 

[chrmjenkins]

TSMC who?

 

[KnightWRX]

It's no great secret that the Austin plant is used to manufacture SoC's for Apple, it was reported back in December of last year :

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/16/us-apple-samsung-idUSTRE7BF0D420111216

No surprise that they would be updating the plant for future processes and manufacturing.

 

[iapplelove]

The battle continues

 

[KnightWRX]

Apple should stop giving money to these bottom feeders. Make your own fabrication labs Apple.

Apple has no expertise in fabrication, no existing plant infrastructure, no components to fabricate chips (which are different from components required to assemble devices).

Why would it even be profitable for them to do this in-house ?

----------

The battle continues

What battle ? This is about a partnership both companies share.

 

[alent1234]

I wonder why Samsung doesn't build these factories in China?

the hard work is in starting up a new CPU process and fixing things to have good yields. its not like pushing a button and the machine makes these things automatically. Intel spends months calibrating their machines for every new CPU release.

so far it seems only the simple things get sent to be done in China

 

[ganymedes13]

No surprise that they would be updating the plant for future processes and manufacturing.

This is true but it is good news for those in the area that need a job.

 

[G4DP]

So if a Korean company thinks it's a good investment to continue with plants in the USA, why doesn't a American company do the same?

This says more about Apple than it does Samsung.

Apple has no confidence in the American manufacturing sector?

 

[scottie2345]

Apple should stop giving money to these bottom feeders. Make your own fabrication labs Apple.

WOW i cannot believe you said that, you do understand about the technology and work involved in making processors?, thought not, in this case apple are the bottom feeders, feeding of the advances of their suppliers, piss them off and you aint gong anywhere, I think apple needs to be careful of upsetting samsung, all the good stuff, better screens,faster cpu, memory etc aint coming from apple.
Sorry to have to let you know this but someone's gotta tell some of the folks around here.

 

[Intarweb]

So the great and evil Korean company Samsung is going to be investing $4 billion dollars more in manufacturing in the good ol' U S of A than Apple does? At a time when manufacturing needs to come back to the United States, it's a Korean electronics company, not an American electronics company, leading the way.

 

[shanson27]

Apple should stop Samsung giving money !

 

[unlinked]

Apple should stop giving money to these bottom feeders. Make your own fabrication labs Apple.

Sure. Like China needs another fab.

 

[Capt Underpants]

Gotta love ATX!

Keep those investments coming!

 

[Arnold Ziffel]

"Business-friendly climate" in Texas?

Kudos for Texas for continuing to attract companies to expand, build new facilities, and promote growth. It's amazing what a business-friendly climate will do for a state.

It's more like corporations own the State of Texas, from Rick Perry <blech> on down.