Updated: Samsung adding 300-mm line to Austin fab

SAN FRANCISCO — Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said Thursday (April 13) that it plans to invest $220 million to build a new 300-mm fab at its existing facility in Austin, Texas. Initial construction is set to begin later this year, the company said.

The $220 million will be used to construct a standalone building that will eventually be equipped to house 300-mm production, according to a Samsung spokesperson.

Austin officials have said in published reports that the facility could eventually cost Samsung $3.5 billion to $4 billion, which would be consistent with the cost of equipping a 300-mm facility. However, the Samsung spokesperson said that as of now, the company has only committed to spending the $220 million. The spokesperson said plans call for the facility to be fully equipped with 300-mm equipment, but that Samsung is not providing details about the size or eventual manufacturing output capability of the fab.

Samsung (Seoul, South Korea) said the $220 million investment is in addition to plans to invest 5.63 trillion Korean Won (about $5.8 billion) in capital expenditures in 2006.

Last year, a Samsung site selection committee recommended Austin as the location for a new, $3.5 billion 300-mm memory fab.

Samsung's existing 200-mm facility in Austin opened in 1997. The company has said it plans to invest $33 billion in new manufacturing facilities, research centers and equipment by 2012.

Also Thursday, Samsung reported a net income of 1.88 trillion won ($1.95 billion) for the first quarter of 2006, down 27 percent from the previous quarter but up 26 percent from the like period a year ago.