Tender for 2 Arizona Sites Aborted

Samsung Electronics' foundry in Austin, Texas

The auction of two sites in Arizona ended without a bid on April 21. The two sites were expected to house Samsung Electronics’ new semiconductor manufacturing plant in the United States, but Samsung Electronics and other companies did not participate in the tender.

One of the sites is located in Goodyear and the other is in Queen Creek. The areas are 1,100 acres and 946 acres, respectively. The minimum bidding prices were US$127.7 million and US$86.13 million, respectively. A re-auction is scheduled for May 19.

Arizona made much effort to accommodate the plant of Samsung Electronics so that it can turn itself into a global semiconductor industry hub. TSMC already decided to invest US$12 billion in Arizona and Intel is planning to build two foundries there by investing US$20 billion.

After the news about the auction came out, experts commented that Austin, Texas is now the most promising candidate to house the plant. Samsung Electronics is currently running a foundry there and a site is already prepared in the vicinity of the foundry. In addition, the company and the state government have discussed incentives for a while.

Samsung Electronics is expected to announce its new U.S. investment plan immediately before the U.S.-South Korea summit scheduled for next month. The company is declining to make any official comment on the matter.

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