Having a strong poker face is an invaluable trait in business, especially if you happen to be one of the largest companies on the planet. Samsung's rise to consumer electronics prominence is a perfect example of that being the case. Especially in the smartphone era, which continues fueling the global demand for mobile chips to unprecedented heights.
The combination of those factors has now brought the company to the brink of a historic deal for the expansion of its semiconductor business. Samsung's search for the host of its $17 billion project is thus seemingly nearing its end after the company narrowed down its options to a handful of localities.
Can you spell ‘Texas' without ‘tax'? Well…
Two of the remaining candidates are in Texas, which is still believed to be the forerunner state for landing the project. Of those, Austin was the early favorite, on account of already hosting a giant Samsung plant. Plus, Samsung already owns hundreds of acres of surrounding land which could be used in the expansion.
But the city of Taylor, sitting just 40 clicks northwest of the Texan capital, has now emerged as a late dark horse in this race. A report from earlier today claims the local city council is preparing an offer Samsung won't be able to refuse.
One revolving around a no-nonsense, rolling tax waiver spanning the next three decades, from 92.5% within the first ten years to 85% across the final stretch of the period. Of course, with the factory promising to create just under 2,000 high-paying jobs, Taylor is certainly counting on a lot of that money making it back to its coffers.
But either way, it seems like Samsung's aggressive tax demands from earlier this year are about to start paying dividends for quite a long time. Taylor is expected to launch its formal bid following a city council meeting scheduled for Wednesday. And even if it doesn't steal Austin's show in the end, it's all-but-guaranteed to push its rival into cutting Samsung even more slack on the taxing front.
