Samsung announced recently that it will invest about $4 billion in its largest semiconductor factory in the United States located here in Austin, Texas. The effort will upgrade the facility to manufacture advanced technology chips used in smart phones and tablets. The new investment comes on top of $3.5 billion Samsung invested in the Austin plant five years ago, leading to a total investment of $13 billion in Austin by the South Korean company since 1996. This long history of investments by world’s second-largest chip maker is another testament to the success of Texas’s economic policies. The pro-business, low-tax, low-regulation climate in Texas compounded with easy access to fresh talent pool in the nearby University of Texas at Austin are key factors for Samsung to continue investing here in the state.
In this highly competitive era it is instructive that Samsung opted to expand in Austin instead of in a higher cost location with a greater regulatory burden.
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