Samsung was said to be weighing a $10 billion investment in the construction of an advanced chipmaking facility in the US, Bloomberg reported, explaining the move is a bid to keep pace with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which in 2020 outlined plans to expand its presence in the nation.

Sources told Bloomberg a preliminary proposal targets breaking ground this year with the goal of commencing operations in 2023. Samsung reportedly purchsed land next to an existing facility in Texas in 2020.

The news outlet added the factory would be Samsung’s third to use an advanced manufacturing technology known as extreme ultraviolet lithography and would be capable of producing chips based on a 3nm process.

Samsung currently uses extreme ultraviolet lithography at factories in South Korea.

TSMC initiated a plan to build a $12 billion semiconductor factory in the US in 2020: construction is scheduled to begin this year, with operations to commence in 2024.

Recent figures from TrendForce showed TSMC held a 54 per cent share of the global foundry market in 2020 and Samsung 17 per cent. The analyst company predicted TSMC’s position would remain unchanged in 2021, with Samsung gaining one percentage point.