By Audrey Jensen | Phoenix Business Journal
Intel Corp.’s existing chip fab and $20 billion expansion in Chandler, in addition to Onsemi and Microchip Technology Inc., have helped build up the Valley’s semiconductor ecosystem and paved the way to attract TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) and future suppliers to the Valley, experts say.
Intel, which has operated in Arizona since 1979, said it purchases from hundreds of suppliers based in Arizona and the Phoenix region.
The semiconductor industry, which first moved into Phoenix around 1950 with Motorola, supports technologies dependent on chips that require a supply chain full of companies involved in design; production; assembly, testing and packaging; integration and consumption.
This entire process of a producing a chip can take months and more than 1,000 steps — and cross international borders 70 times — before reaching an end customer, according to the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University. All of these steps also rely on advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment; materials like chemicals and gases; design software and intellectual property.
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