© Samsung Electronics Components | May 27, 2021
$30 billion in investments headed to the USA
On May 21, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo hosted a roundtable with Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-In, Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Sung Wook Moon and U.S. and South Korean CEOs. As a result, USD 30 billion in US investments were announced.
Companies in attendance included Hyundai Moto Group, LG Energy Solution, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Biologics, SK Group, SK Bioscience. U.S. companies in attendance included Ampere Computing, DuPont, General Motors, Novavax, and Qualcomm, a statement from teh US government reads. Samsung Electronics unveiled plans to invest USD 17 billion in a foundry fab. While specific details, including location and timing, have yet to be announced, it seems highly likely that investments will focus on Austin, Texas, where the company already has a foundry fab. An upgarde to under 7nm processes would make it more likely for Samsung to win orders from US companies such as Apple, Qualcomm, and AMD. SK Hynix said it plans to establish a new R&D centre in Silicon Valley, California; an investment of USD 1 billion. The centre is likely to focus on machine learning and NAND solutions. As SK Hynix announced it would acquire Intel's NAND business in 2020, it makes sense to establish a research centre near Santa Clara, where Intel's headquarters are located.