Samsung today announced that the company's board of directors has reached a decision to invest $220 million in a new 300mm fabrication line in the US.

The new investment for a 300mm (12-inch) fabrication line is expected to bring greater cost competitiveness to the Austin plant that was originally built as a 200mm wafer production facility. In addition, Samsung will be able to enhance customer support for the increasing local demand for memory chips.

The USD220 million investment announced today is a separate overseas investment, which is not included in the 5.63 trillion Korean Won 2006 capital investment for the semiconductor business announced earlier this year.

Together with the Hwaseong Phase Two investment plan announced last September, a USD33billion investment plan by 2012, Samsung said it will continue to establish advanced facilities to ensure timely supplies of memory technologies to the industry.