Samsung Credits Taxpayer Incentives in Texas Fab Announcement

In a refreshing change of pace, Samsung credited taxpayer incentives in a Wednesday announcement that outlined plans for an upcoming FAB (IC fabrication facility) in Taylor, Texas. Groundbreaking for the ~$17B fab is expected in early 2022, with completion anticipated by mid 2024. While we believe that these same incentives are behind every recent US fab announcement, Samsung is one of the few to disclose these considerations within its initial release.

That refreshing disclosure came in a not-so-refreshing pander to the current US Presidential administration, without regard to the passing of the CHIPS act during the prior administration, nor any mention of the $314M local tax incentive it has received to build its plant at the Taylor location. We’re guessing that there’s only so much pandering that will fit into an acceptable press announcement.

An IC manufacturer best-known for its DRAM, Samsung mentions applications including “mobile, 5G, high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI)”. Though none of that sounds like a hint towards DRAM production, we’re hoping that the current DDR5 shortage will be a distant memory long before the plant is complete. The move instead appears to address concerns for which the subsequent FABS Act was written: Preventing another IC shortage from stalling production at major US manufacturing plants.

Direct impact on PC components will likely be felt as alternative FABs shift a portion of production capacity away from the things being produced at the new facility, though given the amount of specialization that goes into complex ICs (CPUs, GPUs), market satiation could take much longer.