Samsung has reportedly lost around $270 million from shutting down its semiconductor plant in Austin, Texas, Yonhap News reports. Speaking during a conference call, a senior vice president at Samsung’s foundry business Han Seung-hoon said that the shutdown affected around 71,000 wafers, corresponding to around 300 to 400 billion won in damage.
Samsung was forced to shut down its Austin plant which produces microprocessors like radio frequency integrated circuits and solid state drive controllers back in February after a storm left some 200,000 Austin homes without power.
The shutdown lasted a month in total, the longest Samsung has ever had to halt production at a factory. However, the company says that the plant was back up to 90 percent production at the end of March, and is now back up to normal levels.
Samsung’s own manufacturing issues have coincided with a global chip shortage that’s affected everything from graphics cards to cars and many others. Samsung says the supply issues have had knock-on effects on its business, contributing to a drop in sales for mobile displays in the first quarter.
The company says it’s possible that supply issues will continue into the second half of the year but that it’s strengthening cooperation with the in-house foundry and expanding the use of outsourced foundries to compensate.
