Samsung has delayed taking delivery of ASML chipmaking equipment for its Taylor, Texas fab, further pushing back operations at the site.
According to a report from Reuters, the delivery of an unknown number of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines was scheduled for earlier this year, but the equipment has still not been shipped. The machines cost around $200 million each and it is unclear when the delivery will instead be made.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters also reported that Samsung has also held off placing orders with a number of other suppliers for the $17 billion fab.
Netherlands-based ASML is the sole global supplier of EUV photolithography machines that are needed to make the most advanced 3nm and 5nm chips. This month, the company’s CEO Christophe Fouquet warned that recovery in the semiconductor market for products beyond AI is likely to be “more gradual than previously expected,” after ASML posted a disappointing set of Q3 2024 financial results.
In April 2024, Samsung received $6.4 billion in direct funding under the US CHIPS and Science Act to support the company’s planned $40bn investment in a semiconductor cluster split between two cities in central Texas: Taylor and Austin.
At the time, the White House said the Taylor investment would include “two leading-edge logic foundry fabs focused on mass production of 4nm and 2nm process technologies,” however in June 2024, it was reported that the company had paused construction at the site after deciding to upgrade the foundry process at the facility from 4nm to 2nm.
Since then, the company has withdrawn personnel from the Taylor facility and pushed back the timeline for mass production at the fab from 2024 to 2026, although it could be pushed back even further if Samsung fails to confirm any major customers in Taylor.
Earlier this month, vice chairman Jun Young-hyun, the recently appointed head of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business, wrote a letter to Samsung’s customers, investors, and employees, apologizing for the company’s disappointing preliminary Q3 2024 results.
Although the company is still expecting to post profits of $6.8 billion for its third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 275 percent, the figure falls short of the $7.4 billion that had been anticipated. The company’s full Q3 2024 results will be released on October 31.
Young-hyun is also reportedly planning to restructure Samsung’s chip business, in part by cutting the number of executives working in the Device Solutions (DS) division. Furthermore, the company’s 2024 Samsung Wafer Foundry Forum – which was due to be held in Beijing, China on October 24 – will now be a virtual event, in order to cut company costs.
