Samsung celebrates latest manufacturing

plant

Austin Business Journal - June 14, 2007

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has finished construction of its second semiconductor manufacturing plant in Northeast Austin.

The 1.6-million-square-foot plant is one of the largest chipmaking factories in the country and more than twice the size of Samsung's first chip plant, which stands next door. The Korean electronics giant started making chips in Austin in 1996.


Executives of Samsung and dignitaries from around Texas, including Gov. Rick Perry, marked the opening with an elaborate ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday that featured country singing star LeAnn Rimes, the Longhorns cheerleaders, rodeo riders and a trained bald eagle named Challenger.

Although the ribbon was cut Thursday, that was just to mark the end of the construction of the building. Over the next several months, Samsung workers will be installing the sophisticated equipment used to manufacture the chips. The plant is scheduled to start production early next year. All told, the new plant is costing some $3.5 billion to build and equip, Samsung says. When it's up and running, the company says its annual payroll in Austin will rise to roughly $100 million from $60 million.

The plant will make flash memory chips that are used in a wide range of consumer products such as MP3 players, cell phones, digital cameras, and other mobile devices.