Samsung Electronics Co. is reportedly announcing its plan of building a new plant in the United States later this week. The announcement is said to take place during South Korea President Moon Jae-in’s visit to Washington for a two-day talk in the country.

On Monday, industry sources told Korea Herald that Samsung will make its plan of creating a new production facility in the U.S. public this week. “As Samsung’s plan to build a factory for home appliances is virtually fixed, it is likely the company will make it official when Moon is visiting the United States,” the sources said.

President Moon is leaving South Korea this Wednesday for his first meeting with a foreign leader since assuming the position last May. In the two-day talk this Thursday and Friday, the leaders of the countries are expected to tackle a number of outstanding issues. Likely to be there for the summit is Yoon Book-keun, who is the head of Samsung’s consumer electronics division.

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Yoon is reportedly going to be present during the summit to make the investment announcement in the United States. However, a Samsung Electronics official — who spoke on condition of anonymity — has said, “The signing ceremony has not been finalized yet. Even if there is a ceremony, we need to consult with the government beforehand.”

As per an earlier report made by the Wall Street Journal, Samsung is looking to build its new plant in Newberry, South Carolina. The facility is rumored to be used in the production of Samsung’s oven ranges that were previously made in Mexico. People familiar with the matter said that Samsung is already in late-stage discussions to invest $300 million for the expansion of its production facilities in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Samsung is currently rumored to be focused on making its Galaxy Note 8 phablet. As previously reported, famous leaker and Venture Beat reporter Evan Blass suggested late last week that the tech giant could unveil the Galaxy Note 7’s successor in late September instead of the rumored weekend dates in August.

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This new update seems to be more plausible given that Samsung wants to prove its detractors that it can launch a premium Note-branded phablet despite the Note 7 fiasco. Previous reports claimed that the South Korean company could keep its August timeframe for the Note 8 like how it did with the past two Note installments.

Should Samsung push through with the September unveiling event for the Note 8, its new smartphone would be in direct competition with Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone 8. It remains to be seen whether this will be a bad move or a good move for Samsung.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 is expected to feature a 6.3-inch display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 chipset, 6GB RAM and a 3,300mAh battery. The handset is said to come in black, blue and gold color options, and it is rumored to hit the market with a $1,100 price tag.

Samsung

Photo: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko

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