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Samsung plans $17B chip plant in Taylor, Texas

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Re: Samsung plans $17B chip plant in Taylor, Texas

#181

Post by ceejayoz »

tyingq wrote: post #175
bell-cot wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This...but did Samsung quietly negotiate a "any further energy supply f*ck-ups are 100% on YOUR dime" deal with the State of Texas, or what? By several accounts, the TX grid got darn close to collapse last winter - at which point "ERCOT Op Center is next door, and we get top priority" would not get you a single erg.

FWIW, the problem wasn't a generalized grid management problem. It was a failure to properly winterize gas plants for rare freezing events. The Texas grid itself is in reasonable shape as far as I know.

"The grid" tends to refer to more than just the transmission wires.

Re: Samsung plans $17B chip plant in Taylor, Texas

#182

Post by max-ibel »

lkbm wrote: post #23
consumer451 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there's a huge benefit of COVID. The related chip shortage finally woke up the US gov on supply chains. My question is why did it take this long? I have been worried about this for nearly a decade. My next question is how many mask factories have we built in the US since we realized that was important?

> My question is why did it take this long? In general, I'd say we've been able to deal with issues by outbidding other countries and exerting international political influence. > My next question is how many mask factories have we built in the US since we realized that was important? We're so bad at building. I'd add to your question with: how custom-built do factories need to be to be efficient? I expect chip fab i…

The machines to make mask material are very different from other textile machines.

They are expensive, and take a long time to build.

https://www.oerlikon.com/polymer-processing/en/solutions-tec...

Re: Samsung plans $17B chip plant in Taylor, Texas

#183

Post by ksec »

justapassenger wrote: post #28
guai888 wrote: post #18

‘Impossible':TSMC founder Morris Chang on US dreams for onshoring chip supply chain https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4327937 Morris Chang spent 25 years (1958–1983) at Texas Instruments.He knows US very well.

You have to take his words with a grain of salt. Without going into politics, it’s impossible to talk about TSMC without geopolitical context. It’s essential to TSMC survival for their production to physically stay focused in Asia.

Morris Chang has been exceptionally clear on this issues when he was still CEO of TSMC, even before the whole politics and TSMC becoming leading edge.

It is impossible with respect to current cost structure, without substantial government money, while getting the same margin. Of course it is entirely possible to throw money at the problem and succeed. Which is what Intel is trying to do right now with the help of US government.

Re: Samsung plans $17B chip plant in Taylor, Texas

#184

Post by FooBarWidget »

politician wrote: post #134
trasz wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that 1. It’s the west (in particular the US) that is strangling the semiconductor supplies in order to hamper Chinese industry, and 2. China is completely uninterested in military aggression, as opposed to US, which just finished a war and is probably looking for another one.

This is just wrong. The White House recently identified semiconductors as an essential product critical to US national security [1]. These actions by the US and allies to onshore fabs is part of the adjustment to defuse a supply chain risk caused by potential future actions by China. During the Cold War, both sides used strategic release of classified information on capabilities to notify the war planners on the othe…

That's not what this is about. The US is sanctioning SMIC. It forced TSMC to release customer data of mainland Chinese customers, presumably with the goal of checking which more Chinese companies to sanction. The US's goal is to prevent China from building a self-sufficient semiconductor industry. Or conversely: to keep China dependent on the US so that the US can sanction China at any time.

Re: Samsung plans $17B chip plant in Taylor, Texas

#185

Post by otrahuevada »

eigen wrote: post #167
otrahuevada wrote: post #30

it makes perfect sense to have a factory right on your most critical client, even leaving the typically american grandiose fantasies of apocalyptic destruction aside. It even nets them a cool 3 billion dollars to do so, which I'm fairly sure is very welcome given Samsung's history of reinvesting this kinds of money for political gain. I do wonder why this isn't more common though, pretty much every gigantic company a…

Are they doing package and test at this fab or do they need to ship parts out to somewhere else, likely another country, before the client can use them?

Article doesn't say? I sure hope they do, if not in place, at least relatively locally, as that would point towards a bigger, more interesting commitment.

Re: Samsung plans $17B chip plant in Taylor, Texas

#186

Post by JaimeThompson »

rllearneratwork wrote: post #151
adam_arthur wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beyond specific companies, Texas has more favorable business climate and tax rates. Housing alone is such a huge knock against CA for new companies. Even paying somebody 500k there leaves them feeling middle class when trying to raise a family. Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but in Texas they build like crazy to support population inflows. If you drive through Austin you'll see every third or fourth house is getti…

they are also not hostile to kids in public schools (CA dumbs down math, requires masks, requires CRT, etc.)

The Texas State Board of Education routinely tries to push young earth Creationism into science classrooms which is a bit hostile to those who want their kids to learn actual science.

Re: Samsung plans $17B chip plant in Taylor, Texas

#187

Post by FooBarWidget »

justinzollars wrote: post #4
bnt wrote: post #2

So everyone is on the "Let's build a Fab in the USA" train, will that eventually bring down the chip production costs? (not an expert in the field, so asking naively)

No, it increases the security and continuity of our civilization when China invades Taiwan.

The best way to keep China from invading Taiwan is by upholding the One China Policy. With that policy in place, China has plenty of reasons to avoid a war. Unfortunately the US and many other parties are increasingly tearing this policy down, not seldomly without fully understanding why that policy was invented in the first place.

Re: Samsung plans $17B chip plant in Taylor, Texas

#188

Post by colinmhayes »

benque wrote: post #57
colinmhayes wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Protectionism makes everyone worse off.

False. Exhibit A: China from 1980-Present. QED.

China's growth has been mostly due to the liberalization of their markets. You're proving me right.

Re: Samsung plans $17B chip plant in Taylor, Texas

#189

Post by rllearneratwork »

adam_arthur wrote: post #169
rllearneratwork wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they are also not hostile to kids in public schools (CA dumbs down math, requires masks, requires CRT, etc.)

Yeah, I suspect things will reach a breaking point and the pendulum will swing back. Just look at all the organized retail crime in Northern California. There's a new article pretty much every day about groups of 20+ coordinating mass retail thefts. Voters explicitly put into place DA and laws that basically decriminalized crime, and now are bearing the fruits of that. Don't think voters will continue voting for thos…

>>"Don't think voters will continue voting for those policies now that repercussions being seen and lived."

- I really hope you are right, but I am not expecting this. Unfortunately, average voter (both on the left and right) seems to be willing to reject realities of cause->effects if they conflict with their identity.

Re: Samsung plans $17B chip plant in Taylor, Texas

#190

Post by rllearneratwork »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #163
rllearneratwork wrote: post #76

with Tesla, SpaceX, Samsung and other tech investing this heavy in Texas, when/will it surpass CA as a tech powerhouse of the future?

Can they get similar talent with draconian social policies like abortion bans? If I suggested moving to Texas my wife would (rightfully) tell me to go fuck myself. There's been a lot of talk about Texas "turning blue" over the past few years and I wonder if these companies either moving their operations or building new plants there could be the tipping point.

"Can they get similar talent with draconian social policies like abortion bans? If I suggested moving to Texas my wife would (rightfully) tell me to go fuck myself."

- I am very much against TX's policy on this. However, how many people are affected by this policy Vs how many kids will be denied Algebra in CA now?

It is never 100% all good or bad policies in any place. It is always a mix. Rational people chose what's best for them and their loved ones overall.

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