As a result of a power shortage caused by a record cold wave in the United States, global semiconductor companies in the United States stopped operating their factories one after another.
According to foreign media and industry sources on the 17th, the Samsung Electronics semiconductor plant in Austin, Texas, has stopped operating since the power supply has been cut off from the dawn of this day in Korean time.
This is the first time the Austin plant has been shut down since its establishment in 1998. It is said that the factory is currently waiting for the power supply to be restored, and has not yet been informed of when to resume power supply
Samsung Electronics’ Austin plant mainly produces power semiconductor products for IT devices and semiconductors for communication based on 14 nanometers (1 billionth of a meter) process technology. Due to the nature of semiconductor microprocessing in nanometer units, there is a situation where short-term electrostatic products must be discarded. Some analysts say that the power outage may cause damage worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Due to the power outage, not only Samsung Electronics, but also NXP and Infineon, a global automotive semiconductor company nearby, have stopped operating the line.
According to foreign media, the global automobile industry has recently cut production due to a shortage of semiconductors, but analysts say that the US blackout will worsen the global automotive semiconductor supply and demand situation.
CNN broadcast on the 16th (local time) citing the analysis data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a record cold wave caused 73% of the total area of the 48 states on the mainland to snowball, and those who died from the cold wave have been It reported that there were at least 15 people.
Electricity was cut off to 5.5 million households in 18 states, including Texas, Oregon, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia. Of these, the power outages in Texas, where Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor factories were located, were the most damaged at 4.3 million.
(Photo = Yonhap News)