ASM International, whose name stands for Advanced Semiconductor Materials, is a semiconductor equipment company whose Arizona operations today center on its Phoenix location, which focuses on products for thermal ALD and epitaxy; Axus, the Chandler equipment maker it bought in December 2025; and a new Scottsdale site that was still under construction in the first half of 2026 and that ASM plans to open in early 2027. The company was founded in the Netherlands in 1968, and its shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam under the ticker ASM. It sells wafer-processing systems to chipmakers: tools for atomic layer deposition (ALD), epitaxy (Epi), PECVD and vertical furnaces, silicon carbide epitaxy tools since its 2022 acquisition of LPE, and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) systems since its 2025 acquisition of Axus. ALD and epitaxy are ways of depositing thin films on silicon wafers [not independently verified]. ASM reported worldwide revenue of EUR 3,173.2 million in 2025, and its 10 largest customers accounted for around 72.3% of that revenue; ASM does not name those customers in its report. Worldwide headcount decreased slightly to 4,519 at the end of 2025, after several years of growth; 1,426 of those employees were in the United States. ASM's 2026 interim report says the workforce rose to 4,908 FTE at the end of the second quarter of 2026 [not independently verified]. ASM's U.S. subsidiary, ASM America Inc., is the party to the Scottsdale development agreement and the buyer of Axus.
ASM's place in the supply chain is as a supplier of equipment to wafer fabs, not as a chipmaker, and its tool manufacturing is centralized in Singapore and Korea [not independently verified]. ASM says the 2nm node is a powerful growth driver as its customers ramp that technology in high-volume manufacturing, supported by end-market demand across AI, high-performance computing and advanced mobile applications. ASM says Arizona is the center for developing its ALD and epitaxy applications, which it links to technology breakthroughs in AI, biotech and electric vehicles. ASM also says it has active R&D engagements with leading customers on advanced packaging, expects that work to begin contributing to revenue in the coming years, and added capability in December 2025 by acquiring Axus, a Chandler-based CMP equipment provider; the report does not say Axus tools are currently sold for advanced packaging [not independently verified], and no later update on that work was found after the annual report published in March 2026. Taken together, these facts show an indirect AI role: ASM supplies the tools that chipmakers use to build chips for AI, among other markets, rather than making AI products itself.
ASM says it was established in Arizona in 1976, making it one of the first semiconductor companies in the state. In 2009 it began moving final assembly of its products to Singapore, and in 2010 it closed its manufacturing facilities in Phoenix. In its fiscal 2014 annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, ASM listed about 130,000 square feet in Phoenix for marketing, sales, service, research and offices, with ASM America Inc. at 3440 East University Drive, Phoenix. Scottsdale city staff later reported that ASM purchased more than 21 acres at the northwest corner of Mayo Boulevard and Miller Road, immediately south of the Loop 101. On December 5, 2023, ASM announced it would invest EUR 300 million over up to five years to design and build a new site in Scottsdale; later published figures for the same project are higher, as described below, and the site was still under construction in the first half of 2026. The Scottsdale City Council approved the deal by a 7-0 vote on September 17, 2024 [not independently verified]. Under Development Agreement No. 2024-120-COS, the city reimburses a portion of public infrastructure costs paid by ASM America Inc., up to a maximum of $6,352,659.84. In exchange, ASM must build 400,000 square feet, add 500 new jobs with an average wage of $110,000, reach a payroll of $55 million, transfer 600 acre-feet of renewable water supplies to the city, and return at least 75% of the water supplied to the property to the sewer. The Scottsdale Independent reported in August 2026 that the city has reimbursed ASM $6.4 million and that ASM has given the city 600 acre-feet of long-term water storage credits to cover its water use for the next 20 years [not independently verified]. On December 8, 2025, ASM America Inc. bought the assets of Axus Technology, a CMP equipment maker founded in 2002 and headquartered in Chandler, where it runs its primary manufacturing, assembly and R&D facilities; total consideration was EUR 101.8 million, including cash and contingent consideration, and Axus had 67 full-time employees at the valuation date.
ASM says Arizona is home to its largest research and development facility worldwide, and its 2025 annual report says the Phoenix location focuses on products for thermal ALD and epitaxy. ASM says its share of the worldwide ALD equipment market surpassed 55%, a company estimate rather than an independent measurement. ASM also says that in 2007 its Pulsar ALD tool became the first system used in high-volume manufacturing of devices with a hafnium-based high-k gate dielectric at the 45nm node; the report does not say where that tool was developed. In Arizona, ASM says its exhibition 'From sand to stars: A semiconductor adventure' at Arizona Science Center drew around 40,000 visitors over three months, and that 5,700 students from low-income schools took part through ASM-sponsored field trips. The Scottsdale Independent reported in August 2026 that ASM established a two-year partnership with the Scottsdale Unified School District to support its Sisters in STEM program, including scholarship funding; the article says two scholarships have been awarded to date [not independently verified].
The Scottsdale site was still under construction in the first half of 2026, when ASM cited it as a reason for higher capital spending, and ASM says it is preparing to open the site in early 2027; the Scottsdale Independent reported on August 27, 2026 that ASM tentatively plans to open in the first quarter of 2027 [not independently verified]. ASM describes the planned building as an R&D center for its ALD and epitaxy technologies with corporate offices for its Phoenix-based leadership, and it lists Scottsdale as its future U.S. facility. ASM says it anticipates hiring 500 people in Arizona over six years from 2023, bringing about 1,300 jobs to Scottsdale by 2030; the Scottsdale Independent reported that a company spokeswoman said the 500-job figure could change [not independently verified]. Other published figures for the project differ: Scottsdale city staff cited a capital expense of $400 million+ in September 2024, and the Scottsdale Independent reported in August 2026 that the investment is expected to exceed $500 million. These describe the same project as the EUR 300 million announced in 2023 and should not be added together. Employee counts also differ by source and date: city staff cited 721 employees in Phoenix in September 2024, while ASM's undated Arizona page, read in October 2026, says 1,000+ employees in Arizona, and the Scottsdale Independent reported in August 2026 that ASM has more than 1,100 employees in Arizona [not independently verified]. The project drew scrutiny over water: the Scottsdale Progress reported in April 2024 that city emails from the second half of 2023 showed Scottsdale's water director puzzled and frustrated by ASM's differing estimates of how much water it needed, before the 2024 agreement required ASM to supply renewable water. ASM also reports EUR 33.4 million in Arizona R&D tax credits that it has not recognized as an asset, because it does not expect to use prior-year credits [not independently verified].
For Arizona, the facts describe a long-established equipment developer that, through an acquisition, again manufactures equipment in the state. ASM has worked in Arizona since 1976 and closed its Phoenix manufacturing in 2010, and its Phoenix location focuses on products for thermal ALD and epitaxy. Since December 2025 it has owned Axus, which runs its primary manufacturing, assembly and R&D for CMP equipment in Chandler. ASM plans to open its Scottsdale campus, still under construction in the first half of 2026, in early 2027, under a city agreement that ties infrastructure reimbursement to 400,000 square feet, 500 new jobs and transfers of renewable water supplies.