Following 50-year run in Silicon Valley, SEMICON West will permanently move to Phoenix

Following a 50-year run in the San Francisco Bay area, the annual SEMICON West conference is moving to Phoenix, for good, in 2027.

SEMICON West has been held in California’s Silicon Valley since 1971. It is considered the premier event for semiconductor and microelectronics manufacturing, but it has also helped showcase other emerging technologies like LEDs and solar energy panels. 

On Wednesday, SEMI Americas, which puts on the event, announced it would hold one more conference in San Francisco this fall before moving to a permanent spring schedule in Phoenix in 2027.

SEMI says the switch from fall to spring will give exhibitors and attendees greater flexibility to attend other SEMI expositions in India, Taiwan, Europe and Japan throughout the year.

The relocation is largely to do with the record-breaking success of the event’s debut at the Phoenix Convention Center last fall. The Arizona Commerce Authority said in a statement that the event brought in 60% more registrations and 50% more registrations than prior conferences, “making it the most widely attended SEMICON West in nearly 20 years.”

Joe Stockunas, president of SEMI Americas, says this informed the decision to establish Phoenix as the new flagship for their North American event. He also cited the tremendous momentum behind the state’s semiconductor ecosystem and workforce efforts.

The Commerce Authority says Arizona has attracted more than 70 semiconductor expansions, representing over $314 billion in investment since 2020.

The Commerce Authority also heads the Southwest chapter of the National Network for Microelectronics Education, a coordinated national effort to build the semiconductor industry workforce. The NNME believes the U.S. is between 127,000 and 157,000 workers short for this sector.

Future SEMICON West events are planned at the convention center through 2029, in April and May.