Samsung has delayed the mass production of semiconductor chips at its chip plant situated in Taylor, Texas, USA. The mass production of chips at this $17 billion plant was set to begin in the second half of 2024, but it is now set to begin in 2025, which is a delay of at least half a year compared to the original plans.
Samsung Foundry President Choi Siyoung revealed at an industry event in San Francisco, USA, that the mass production of advanced semiconductor chips would start sometime in 2025 at its chip plant in Taylor, Texas. When the investment was announced in 2021, Samsung announced that the mass production would begin in 2024. This delay is a blow to Joe Biden's plan to bring advanced semiconductor chip manufacturing from South Korea and Taiwan to the US. Earlier, TSMC announced a delay in chip manufacturing production at its Phoenix chip plant in Arizona, pushing the production to 2025. TSMC said that delays have been due to a shortage of skilled talent, including construction workers and machine installation technicians.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions revealed the over-reliance of the US and other countries on South Korea and Taiwan for their semiconductor chip supply. Those disruptions caused losses of billions of dollars to US-based firms. Then, US President Joe Biden announced plans to bring chip production to the US through Intel, Samsung Foundry, and TSMC. However, two of those brands haven't been able to keep up with their promises and announced delays in their production timelines. So, the mass production of chips at Samsung and TSMC chip plants will only start after next year's presidential elections in the US.
Reports claim that these delays have been caused by permit-related issues by the US environmental agencies and the slowness of the Biden administration in offering the pledged financial support. The CHIPS Act signed last year, which promised to support $100 billion to semiconductor chip firms, has made only one grant of $35 million to the American subsidiary of British aerospace firm BAE Systems PLC.
