Semiconductor Companies in Arizona
The "Silicon Desert" & "U.S. Semiconductor Central"
The semiconductor manufacturing industry is one of the fastest growing industries in Arizona. The semiconductor manufacturing companies in Arizona are responsible for the production of microchips, which are used in a variety of devices including computers, smartphones, smart TV's, and other electronic devices.
Some of the most prominent semiconductor companies in Arizona include Intel, ON Semiconductor, Microchip Technology, and NXP Semiconductors. These companies are responsible for producing a wide range of semiconductor products, from microprocessors and memory chips to embedded systems and analog components.
Additionally, many of these companies are involved in research and development of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Arizona is also home to several smaller semiconductor companies, such as Avnet, GlobalFoundries, and Skyworks Solutions. All of these companies are contributing to the growth of the semiconductor industry in Arizona, and are helping to make the state a hub for innovation and technology.
The semiconductor industry has been growing at a rapid pace over the past few years. This is largely due to the increase in demand for microchips from various industries such as automotive and aerospace, as well as consumer electronics.
Semiconductor manufacturing companies in Arizona have been making a lot of capital investments to expand their production capacities and hire more employees. The industry provides high-paying jobs to many people in Arizona.
Intel Semiconductor wafer Fabs 12, 32 & 42 in Ocotillo (Chandler) Arizona (2021)
The United States is now prioritizing bringing Semiconductor manufacturing back!
Semiconductors power the computer chips in our cell phones, computers, and even the chips found in cars.
Many foreign countries are heavily incentivizing and subsidizing semiconductor manufacturing within their own borders, thereby shrinking the global market share of U.S. semiconductor manufacturers.
Currently, the United States is home to only 12 percent of the world's semiconductor manufacturing facilities, and Arizona is a key state for past, and future semiconductor manufacturing. The semiconductor industry in Arizona has been growing at an exponential rate over the past few years, with many companies setting up shop in the state to take advantage of its low cost of living and favorable tax incentives.
Since semiconductors are essential components of nearly all modern technologies, a secure domestic supply chain became an economic and national security priority for the United States in 2022. On July 28th 2002 the United States congress passed the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which will subsidise domestic production of Semiconductor manufacturing in the Unted States.
Motorola's first semiconductor R&D and manufacturing facility in East Phoenix (1957)
Arizona is already home to numerous advanced semiconductor manufacturing plants, and even more are coming...
The state of Arizona has been home to many semiconductor & electronics manufacturing Companies over the years, starting in the mid 1950's by the Southwest's pioneer semiconductor company - Motorola.
In 2021, Forbes Magazine called Arizona the new "U.S. Semiconductor Central", due to the growth of the semiconductor industry there. Large high-tech manufacturers have been drawn to Arizona due to it's lower taxes, lower restrictions, local incentives, skilled worforce, and amount of available land.
Currently, over 22,000 Arizonans are employed in the Semiconductor industry, which generates more than $8 billion annually for the state economy.
Thousands more high-paying jobs are being created, with both Taiwan Semiconductor and Intel now building multiple new wafer Fabs in central Arizona, and Samsung is considering Arizona as location for a possible new Fab site.
Also, numerous supporting industries are being created around each new Semiconductor site, such as chemical manufacturing plants, silicon wafer suppliers, and semiconductor equipment service and support vendors. Just south of Phoenix, in the City of Casa Grande, numerous chemical suppliers are being built to supply Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor's new wafer manufacturing Fabs.
The central part of Arizona now has many major electronic and semiconductor manufacturing plants located in the Phoenix metropolitan areas of Chandler / Ocotillo, Mesa, Tempe, North Phoenix. Microchip and Raytheon have some manufacturing facilities still in the Southern part of the state in Tucson.
Other leading manufactures with manufacturing sites in Arizona include Raytheon, Microchip, ON semiconductor (ONSEMI) , VLSI Technology, Freescale Semiconductor, NXP, STMicroelectronics, Honeywell, Retronix Semiconductor, Maxim Integrated Products, Marvel, Amkor, Advanced Semiconductor, Analog Devices, Jabil Circuit, Infineon Technologies, FlipChip, Philips Semiconductor, Western Digital, Medtronic, Dialog Semiconductor, Lansdale Semiconductor, and others.
NXP Semiconductor
Motorola's research and development lab in Phoenix introduced the world's first commercial high-power germanium-based transistors in 1955. The lab would expand over time to become Motorola's semiconductor division and by 1960 they would have three large manufacturing sites in the Phoenix area.
In1999 Motorola spun off it's semiconductor components division to OnSemi. In 2004 they spin off their semiconductor products group to Freescale Semiconductor, which would eventually merge with Philips Semiconductor into NXP semiconductors in 2015. NXP semiconductors now has two semiconductor Fab's located in Chandler.
Intel
One of the most well-known semiconductor companies in Arizona is Intel Corporation. Intel is Arizona's largest high-tech manufacturer employer. The company started up their first wafer manufacturing Fab to be built in Arizona (Fab 6 in Chandler, AZ) back in 1980, and later came their 720-acre Ocotillo Fab 12 site built nearby in 1996. The Ocotillo site is now home to three major semiconductor Fabs: Fab 12, Fab 32 & Fab 42.
In Sept. 2021, Intel broke ground on "Project Eagle", starting construction of two new leading edge wafer Fabs in Ocotillo, called Fab 52 & Fab 62. At a cost of $20 billion, the new Fabs are the largest private sector investment in the history of the state. The two Fab's are reported to be designed to support Intel Foundry Services (IFS) products, as well as Intel’s cutting edge 20A process products (5nm).
Both new Fabs are expected to start chip production as early as 2024. Once the new Fabs are completed, Ocotillo will be Intel's largest semiconductor manufacturing complex worldwide. Potiential customers for the new foundry chips coming out of Fabs 52 and 62 include Nvidia, Amazon, MediaTek, Qualcomm, and many others.
Intel Fab 42 at Ocotillo AZ, with new construction begining on Fabs 52 and 62 (Jan 2022)
Taiwan Semiconductor - TSMC
Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, broke ground on it's new 5nm semiconductor foundry Fab in North Phoenix (Loop 303 and I-17) in June 2021.
At a cost of $12 billion, the new wafer Fab is expected to start production of their advanced semiconductor chips by 2024, and will initially employee around 1900 workers.
"Fab 21" will become TSMC's second Fab to be located in the United States. Potential customers of TSMC's 5nm chips manufactured at this site could be Nvidia, Qualcomm, Apple, Broadcom, Xilinx, and others.
Taiwain Semiconductor's new Fab being construction in North Phoenix, Arizona (Dec 2021)
We visit TSMC's new Fab 21 site under construction in North Phoenix
Other growing High-tech industries in Arizona
Data Centers - Apple / Google / Facebook / CyrusOne
Arizona has been a hot spot for new data centers since 2018. This is because of the state's low energy costs, favorable tax policies, and proximity to major internet hubs. These new data centers, which are used for storing and processing data, will provide even more high-paying jobs and economic growth for the state.
Apple now has a 1.3 million sq ft globl command / data center located in the growing new East Mesa suburb of EastMark, in the Elliot Road Technology Corridor, now being called "Data Center Alley".
Google and Facebook have also announced their plans of building their own data centers in this booming area, as well as numerous other companies.
Facebook's 960,000 sq ft data center is expected to open in 2023. Google's 750,000 sq ft. data center is expected to open by 2025.
CyrusOne has a 1,000,000 sq ft data center located in Chandler in the price road corridor in the Continium Business Park just south of loop 202, just minutes from the Intel Ocotillo campus. When it was built in 2012, this 57 acre site was the largest data center campus in the United States. CyrusOne also building a second data center in East Mesa's growing Elliot Road Technology Corridor.
Apple Global Command / Data Center in the Elliot Technology Coridor, Mesa Arizona (Jan 2022)
META (Facebook) new data center under construction in East Mesa, Arizona (Jan 2023)
Autonomous Self-Driving Car testing and research
The Phoenix Arizona metro area (Cities of Tempe, Mesa & Chandler) has also become a popular testing ground around it's public streets for research and data collection of numerous self-driving autonomous cars starting in 2015, including Uber, Mobileye, Intel, NURO, Apple, and google startup Waymo.
The Phoenix Arizona area avoids the headaches of increment weather (snow, fog) during testing, and has one of the least restrictive autonomous car regulation laws in the U.S thanks to the Arizona State government passing an Executive order in 2015 that requires the state to “undertake any necessary steps to support the testing and operation of self-driving cars.”
Road testing the Waymo self driving car around the streets of Chandler Arizona (2021)
A Waymo Jaguar autonomous car being tested in Phoenix, Arizona (November 2022)
Electric Vehicle manufacturing
Lucid Motors
Just South of Phoneix, near the town of Casa Grande, Electric Car manufacturer Lucid Motors has a 590 acre site with a new Advanced Manufacturing Plant called AMP-1 that is now doing final assembling of their 'Lucid Air" model, named as MotorTrend's Car of the Year for 2022. The Lucid Air is currently the world's Longest Range, Fastest Charging, Electric Car.
Construction has now begun on an additional 2.8 million sq foot factory, part of the phase 2 expansion, increasing the capabilities of the AMP-1 assembly site.
Lucid motors AMP-1 electric car assembly plant in Casa Grande Arizona begins construction of phase 2 expansion (Jan 2022)
Nikola Motor Company
Also, clean energy Semi-Truck manufactuer NIkola has it's headquarters in Phoenix, near Sky Harbor Airport. Nikola is also in the process of starting up a new assembly manufacturing plant just built near the town of Coolidge (one hour drive south/east of Phoenix) to build their "Tre" fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV).
Nikola motors new hybrid electric semi-truck manufacturing plant Coolidge Arizona (Jan 2022)
Solar Energy Technology
Solar cell technology is also big in the sunny state of Arizona, with no less tham 15 solar companies located throughout the Phoenix area. Central Arizonaa has has the right climate and the right amount of sunlight for solar cell technology to be efficient. This makes it an ideal place for solar energy manufacturing companies to set up shop.
Of the many companies in Arizona that manufacture solar panels, only a few have made it big in the industry. One such company is First Solar, Inc., which was founded in 1999 and has grown to become one of the largest manufacturers of solar panels in the world.
First Solar's world headquarters is located in Tempe. First Solar is the largest solar panel manufacture in the U.S. They have been operating for over 30 years and have more than 10,000 employees worldwide. Locally, First Solar now has many projects going on in Arizona including powering the new Microsoft energy-efficient data centers, located west of Phoenix in the Goodyear / El Mirage areas.
SolarCity, is one of America’s largest solar power providers with more than 1 million customers across 15 states. They provide residential and commercial customers with clean renewable energy through their own network of installers or by leasing them a system outright.
Medical Device Electronics & IC Technology
Central Arizona also has companies that produce leading edge electronic devices for the Medical industry.
Medtronic
Medtronic, a leader in implantable microelectronic & IC design, development and manufacturing for the medical industry, has a 30-acre Enginnering and Production campus located in Tempe.
Medtronic manufactures a range of medical devices, including cardiovascular products like pacemakers and defibrillators, diabetes management tools such as continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps, as well as neuromodulation devices for pain management and various surgical instruments.
Dexcom
Located in Mesa, Dexcom specializes in the development and manufacturing of advanced continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems, which are designed to provide real-time glucose readings for individuals with diabetes. These devices consist of a small sensor that is inserted just under the skin, which continuously measures glucose levels in interstitial fluid and transmits the data to a receiver or smartphone app. This technology allows users to monitor their blood sugar levels throughout the day and night without the need for frequent finger-prick tests, offering greater convenience and improved diabetes management.
Dexcom's CGM systems also include features such as customizable alerts for high and low glucose levels, trend graphs, and data sharing capabilities with caregivers and healthcare providers. The company focuses on innovation and accuracy, ensuring that its devices are user-friendly and capable of providing reliable data to help users make informed decisions about their health. By manufacturing these sophisticated medical devices, Dexcom contributes significantly to improving the quality of life for people living with diabetes, enhancing their ability to manage their condition effectively.
Cirtec Medical
Also, a Fabless semiconductor and IC design company called Cirtec Medical is located in Chandler. Cirtec has a developemnt and design center for Custom Analog & Mixed Signal Integrated Circuits, Low-Power Medical ASICs, Integrated Circuits (ICs) for Battery-Powered Electronics, and IC Designs for Power Management.
Cirtec Medical specializes in the design and manufacture of complex medical devices, particularly in the fields of cardiac, neurovascular, and peripheral vascular applications. The company focuses on developing cutting-edge technologies, including catheter-based systems, delivery devices, and various implants that cater to the needs of healthcare providers and patients.
Cirtec is known for its expertise in manufacturing advanced materials and components, such as balloon catheters, lead wires, and specialty coatings, which are crucial for enhancing device performance and biocompatibility. The facility emphasizes quality and regulatory compliance, ensuring that its products meet the stringent standards required in the medical device industry. By fostering innovation and collaboration with medical professionals, Cirtec Medical aims to create reliable solutions that improve patient outcomes and support advancements in minimally invasive procedures. Their commitment to excellence positions them as a key player in the evolving landscape of medical technology.
GE Healthcare
GE HealthCare, located in the Phoenix area, focuses on the design and manufacture of a variety of advanced medical devices and technologies that support diagnostic imaging, monitoring, and therapeutic applications. The company is known for its imaging systems, including MRI machines, ultrasound devices, and computed tomography (CT) scanners, which are essential for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning in clinical settings.
In addition to imaging equipment, GE HealthCare also develops patient monitoring systems, which are crucial for tracking vital signs and ensuring patient safety in hospital environments. Their innovations in digital health technology and artificial intelligence enhance diagnostic accuracy and streamline workflows for healthcare professionals. By combining cutting-edge engineering with a commitment to quality and regulatory compliance, GE HealthCare aims to improve patient outcomes and facilitate more efficient healthcare delivery. The Phoenix facility plays a vital role in advancing these technologies, contributing to the overall mission of enhancing global health.
 Arizona shaped keychain with Gold Integrated Circuits (1960s)
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Intel Innovations in Arizona exhibit - Spring 2013
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