SEOUL -- The prolonged shutdown of Samsung Electronics' chip fabrication plant in the U.S. state of Texas will reduce global smartphone production by 5% in the second quarter of this year, says Taiwanese research firm TrendForce.
Operations at the Austin plant were halted a month ago Tuesday amid a record-breaking cold snap in the southern U.S. that caused widespread disruption to power networks. The loss of supply from the world's second-largest foundry, behind only Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., is expected to reverberate through the smartphone industry.
