Based on the survey data, the DiskMFR Research Institute has compiled and released information on 101 domestically-operated wafer manufacturing plants in the United States, located in 22 states and owned by 53 companies. Of these plants, 21 are trusted wafer manufacturing lines of the US Department of Defense.
Although the United States has numerous wafer plants, most of them have a production scale of around 20,000 wafers. The large-scale wafer manufacturing lines belong to Intel, Micron, and GlobalFoundries.
As noted in the Semiconductor Industry Association’s (SIA) “Factbook” report, more than 55% of the front-end wafer manufacturing capacity of US semiconductor companies is located overseas, with 18.3% in Singapore, 9.7% in Taiwan, 9.6% in Europe (UK, Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium, Israel), 8.8% in Japan, 5.5% in mainland China, and 5% in other regions (including South Korea, Malaysia, and Canada). This is mainly because overseas manufacturing capacity is primarily focused on memory production, with wafer plant scales starting at 100,000 wafers per month.
✅ The increase, acquisition, and closure of FAB in the United States in the past two years
In 2021, ADI closed one 6-inch factory and completed its acquisition of Maxim Integrated, gaining one 8-inch factory. Micron sold its Utah plant to Texas Instruments in the same year.
- In 2021, ADI closed one 6-inch factory and completed the acquisition of MEMSIC, gaining one 8-inch factory.
- In 2021, Micron sold its Utah factory to Texas Instruments.
- In 2022, Intel added D1X P3 to its manufacturing capacity.
- In 2022, Texas Instruments added RFAB2 and LFAB2 (formerly owned by Micron) to its manufacturing capacity.
- In 2022, ON Semiconductor sold two 8-inch factories.
- In 2022, Diodes added one 8-inch factory (formerly owned by ON Semiconductor) and became the first company to own an 8-inch factory on American soil.
- In 2022, Los Angeles Semiconductor added one 8-inch factory (formerly owned by ON Semiconductor) and began offering foundry services.
✅ By Region
According to the number of wafer fabrication facilities by state (regardless of wafer size), Texas has the most 18 facilities, followed by California with 13 and Oregon with 12. All other states have 10 or fewer facilities.
✅ By Wafer Size
There are a total of 20 12-inch wafer fabs distributed in 8 states in the US, with 6 in Texas, 5 in Oregon, 2 in Arizona, Idaho, and New York, and 1 in New Mexico, Utah, and Virginia.
Despite being the home of “Silicon Valley” with over 14 wafer fabs, California does not have a single 12-inch wafer fab. Instead, Texas and Oregon have more 12-inch wafer fabs.
There are 34 8-inch wafer fabs in 14 states, and 47 wafer fabs with 6-inch or smaller wafers in 17 states.
✅ By Company
Intel and Texas Instruments have the most semiconductor fabrication facilities, each with eight. It should be noted that all of Intel’s facilities are for 12-inch wafers, while Texas Instruments has four facilities for both 12-inch and 8-inch wafers.
In terms of the number of 12-inch wafer fabrication facilities, Intel leads the way with eight, followed by Texas Instruments with four. Micron and Samsung each have two facilities, while ONSEMI and Skorpios each have one. GF (GlobalFoundries) previously owned one 12-inch facility (FAB10), which it sold to ONSEMI, with the transaction expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
✅ After the US Chip Act
After the release of the US chip act, there has been a wave of construction of semiconductor fabs in the United States, with more than 20 projects announced by various companies. These include:
- Intel announced the construction of multiple fabs, including the FAB52 and FAB62, two EUV-dedicated 12-inch fabs in Arizona, and up to eight EUV-dedicated 12-inch fabs in Ohio.
- Texas Instruments announced the construction of four 12-inch fabs in Texas.
- Micron announced the construction of four 12-inch storage fabs in New York and a 12-inch storage fab in Idaho.
- GlobalFoundries announced the construction of FAB8.2 in New York.
In addition to US companies building fabs, the investments have also attracted major investments from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Samsung.
