How to Slash Costs Without Angering Regulators

Severe weather conditions hitting much of the U.S. have caused some semiconductor companies to idle production capacity, threatening to exacerbate a chip shortage that has already prompted car makers to curtail output at some plants. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. , one of the world’s biggest chip makers, operates two factories in Austin, Texas, and was asked by local authorities to shut those down on Tuesday, said a company spokeswoman. Samsung expects to resume production as soon as possible and, the spokeswoman said, was waiting for electricity provider Austin Energy to advise when the chip maker’s operations could start up again. Texas has suffered widespread power disruptions that began early Monday amid a severe winter storm. The outages have prompted local officials to ask companies to reduce operations to minimize demand on the region’s power grid. The Austin facilities represent about 28% of Samsung’s overall production capacity, according to Citi analysts. Austin is a manufacturing hub for Samsung, which is considering a $17 billion plan to expand its operations there or in other parts of the U.S.