Samsung Investing $4 Billion in Austin, Texas to Boost Smartphone Processor Production
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.
Popular Stories
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...