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Samsung Delays $44 Billion Texas Chip Fab Because 'There Are No Customers' (tomshardware.com) 60

Posted by BeauHD from the supply-and-demand dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom's Hardware: 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 double 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. Samsung C&T, the primary contractor for the Taylor fab, states that construction of the site is progressing. Documents from the company show that the site is almost 92% complete as of March 2024. Work on the site was originally scheduled to finish the following month, but regulatory filings indicate that this was moved to October.

No reason was given for the delay, but multiple sources indicate that it occurred due to a lack of demand. It was initially planned for the Taylor Fab to produce chips for the 4nm process node, but this has since been upgraded to 2nm, to compete with TSMC and Intel. A supply chain executive told the publication that there is little demand for the originally planned 4nm process node at the site. "Local demand for chips isn't particularly strong, and the process nodes Samsung planned several years ago no longer meet with current customer needs," the executive said to Nikkei Asia. "However, overhauling the plant would be a major and costly undertaking, so the company is adopting a wait-and-see approach for now." Although it has already declared its intention to upgrade the site to manufacture the 2nm process node, that is a resource-intensive task in terms of time, effort, and money. Despite the lack of customers, Samsung says it will proceed with opening the Taylor Fab by 2026 -- a necessary move to qualify for CHIPS Act funding and avoid falling behind competitors like TSMC. Delaying further could jeopardize billions already invested in the project.

Samsung Delays $44 Billion Texas Chip Fab Because 'There Are No Customers' More | Reply

Samsung Delays $44 Billion Texas Chip Fab Because 'There Are No Customers'

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  • Local Demand? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by DesertNomad ( 885798 )

    "Local demand for chips isn't particularly strong, and the process nodes Samsung planned several years ago no longer meet with current customer needs," the executive said to Nikkei Asia.

    Local demand? Where did they think those gigantic factories were, Oklahoma?

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Kisai ( 213879 )

      "Local Demand" in the context of large factories, means "country-level"

      Basically the reason for the plant existing is in case South Korea is invaded or bombed by the North. Same with TSMC having their arm twisted to have a factory in the US. The last thing the US needs is for both their secondary supplies of chips to be gone.
      Remember TI (Texas Instruments), what ever happened to them? They acquired 13 companies since their inception, including National Semiconductor (Remember Cyrix before it was give away t

      • They planned and designed a Fab to build type of chip nobody wants - it's back to the drawing board.

        The planned Fab was going to make chips using a technology no one wants now, markets change, why build a fab if you can't sell the products it makes?

      • But really they want the US Government to use them, why else would the US want to subsidize a chip plant at all.

        Because politicians want PR opportunities, and they think that encouraging local manufacturing attracts votes.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mjwx ( 966435 )

        "Local Demand" in the context of large factories, means "country-level"

        "Local demand" means "give us more tax money".

        It's "demand" as in "I demand more danegeld".

    • They're Samsung. How about making cell phones, tablets or TVs next door.
      • They need everyone else they compete with to open American factories too, so they aren't paying higher wages. That's the selling point! Everyone pay for American workers so the market is fair.

  • Who would have guessed? (Score:3)

    by battingly ( 5065477 ) on Thursday July 03, 2025 @08:40PM (#65495456)

    How could anyone have predicted in 2022 that technology would have advanced by 2025? It's almost like competent management means planning for the future.

    • The problem is that Samsung's technology isn't advancing.

      • Nah the problem is you're talking out of your arse. Samsung's transistor density in its current node is on par with Intel's best, and only slightly behind TSMC. They are targeting 1.4nm node by 2027, and all three companies have demonstrated next gen CFET production recently.
         

        • You're reading specs off white papers without seeing the bigger picture. Yields on Samsung's GAAFet nodes have been catastrophically bad. Customers are abandoning them. They aren't even going to produce a halo SoC for Galaxy phones anymore (all their top end phones will be using chips from TSMC).

          https://www.sammobile.com/news... [sammobile.com]

          Do your homework before casting stones.

  • If the government doesn't have a way to be refunded, you can bless my Cashapp and we'll call it even.

  • They aren't keeping up with TSMC, period. Even their cutting-edge nodes like 3GAP (or whatever the fuck they call it now) aren't hitting acceptable yields or attracting foundry customers. They are in trouble.

  • They're all waiting for the tidal wave from China (Score:3, Interesting)

    by EreIamJH ( 180023 ) on Thursday July 03, 2025 @11:08PM (#65495722)

    Chinese companies were happily churning out 20nm chips for washing machines, then someone in Washington thought it'd be a great idea to sanction Chinese semiconductors for, um, reasons. The Chinese government noticed and within six months it rolled out a plan: By 2030 have a world leading full stack semiconductor industry using 100% Chinese owned IP from top to bottom.

    Because of our sanctions in just four years we're going to have the world's undisputed leader in mass production churning out semiconductors in quantities and at prices that'll make semiconductor investment in the west a money losing proposition. The only solution for the west is to put up a wall preventing the import of Chinese semiconductors, but the problem is that the west no longer makes anything that the rest of the world can't get from China faster, cheaper and better.

    The western semiconductor industry knows its in deep trouble.

    • The Chinese ate our lunch, and they will keep eating our lunch as long as MAGAs are in control.
    • I like how you make it sound like the chinese are completely incompetent. Then one day, the us pissed them off and they ate the equivalent of chinese spinach, in a remarkably and unbelievably short amount of time created super semiconductors. Hint: the chinese did what Joe Biden did, invest in itself. It didn't pocket the money or give it to oligarchs.

    • Unmitigated greed is a real bitch eh?

  • They are built on 40nm, 28nm or 16nm, depending on the model. I'd love to see a RPi5 built on 4nm process node, instead of 16nm.
  • Does that mean the US consumers will not be treated equally compared to the rest of the world, especially regarding the #GSOD [youtube.com] ?

  • The cynic in me thinks that perhaps Samsung's economists have a bleak outlook on how the purchasing power of the average American consumer is going to be within foreseeable time.

  • Another rich target for humor wasted.

  • world class leader in vaporwarem
  • OBVIOUSLY there wouldn't be enough demand for it unless the market for 4nm was expected to grow by that much while they were building it out!! (Unless their so-called 'plan' included shutting down a similarly-sized offshore 4nm fab, which we can be pretty sure it didn't.) Good Lord...

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