Samsung to invest $4bn in Texan mobile chip plant

The investment will be used to renovate an existing chip producing line and boost production of system chips, widely used in popular smartphones and tablets.

Samsung previously announced 2.25 trillion won ($1.98bn) in spending to build a new logic chip plant in South Korea, and the conversion of two memory chip lines into logic chip production earlier this year to meet growing demand from mobile gadget customers such as Apple.

Meanwhile, a Samsung attorney said the chief executives of Apple and Samsung have talked but did not settle their high stakes patent dispute.

US District Judge Lucy Koh had requested that the two talk on the phone at least once more before the jury begins deliberating this week.

Apple and Samsung are going toe-to-toe in a patents dispute that mirrors the struggle for industry supremacy between the two rivals that control more than half of worldwide smartphone sales.

Apple accuses Samsung of copying the design and some features of its iPad and iPhone, and is asking for a sales ban in addition to monetary damages.

South Korea's Samsung, which is trying to expand in the US, says Apple infringed several patents, including some for its key wireless technology.

Top executives from both companies had participated in mediation with a US magistrate judge before trial, but Koh asked them to explore settlement once again.

"I see risks here for both sides," Koh said last week.

Closing arguments are scheduled for later this week.