Samsung delays ASML chip gear deliveries for Texas plant

Samsung Electronics has postponed taking deliveries of ASML chipmaking equipment for its USD 17 billion Texas facility because it has not yet got major customers for the project, according to a report by Reuters.

The delay is being seen as another setback to the project in Taylor, Texas, an ambitious attempt by Samsung to expand into the contract chip manufacturing space that is dominated by TSMC  

The delayed shipments to the Taylor plant involve ASML’s advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools, sources told Reuters.

Though deliveries were scheduled earlier this year, the machines are yet to be shipped.  

Priced at about USD 200 million each, EUV machines are used to create design features on wafers using beams of light.  

Earlier this year Samsung said production at the factory would begin in 2026 instead of 2024. Samsung told Reuters there was no change to its plan to start production in 2026. 

Samsung’s market share in contract manufacturing fell 8 percentage points in the last five years to 11% while TSMC’s market share has swelled to 61.7%.  

Samsung’s struggles in its foundry business has also impacted its factories in South Korea, where it is grappling with low yields of its advanced 3nm chips, Reuters reports. 

In April, Samsung received USD 6.4 billion in direct funding under the US Chips and Science Act to support its planned USD 40 billion investment in a chip cluster split between Taylor and Austin in Texas.

But in June 2024, it was reported that the company was delaying construction at its Taylor fab in order to upgrade the foundry process at the facility from 4nm to 2nm.  

Last month media reports said that ongoing issues with its 2nm yield rate had led Samsung to withdraw personnel from the Taylor factory. 

Samsung is also planning global job cuts of up to 30% across some divisions.