By Arizona AI · Profile reviewed · 23 sourced facts
SUMCO Corporation, a Tokyo-based maker of the silicon wafers that chipmakers use as the starting material for chips, runs its U.S. headquarters and a 200-millimeter polished-wafer plant in Phoenix, Arizona, through SUMCO Southwest Corporation. SUMCO's Phoenix plant grows silicon crystals and finishes wafers at the same facility, and it shipped its first wafers in June 1997, according to SUMCO's site history. SUMCO Corporation is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Sources: SUMCO Phoenix Corporation, SUMCO Corporation · Addresses open Google Maps in a new tab
SUMCO makes silicon wafers, the thin, extremely flat discs on which semiconductor factories build electronic circuits. The Japanese parent, SUMCO Corporation, is headquartered in Tokyo and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as 3436.
The product: SUMCO grows single-crystal silicon into long cylinders, cuts them into wafer discs and polishes the surfaces so chip manufacturers have a flat, clean starting material. Its group-wide product range also includes specialized epitaxial and annealed wafers.
Older than the SUMCO name: SUMCO's Phoenix site sent its first wafer shipment in June 1997. The Japanese parent company was established in July 1999 and adopted the SUMCO name in August 2005, so the Phoenix plant predates both.
Phoenix factory and U.S. headquarters: SUMCO Southwest Corporation, described by SUMCO as a wholly owned subsidiary of SUMCO Phoenix Corporation, operates the 200 mm polished-wafer facility in Phoenix. The company lists this location as its U.S. corporate headquarters as well as a manufacturing plant. SUMCO's global site register describes the Phoenix plant as making monocrystalline silicon ingots and silicon wafers. State records show SUMCO Southwest Corporation was incorporated in Arizona on September 20, 1995, the month before construction broke ground, and list SUMCO Corporation as shareholder of SUMCO Phoenix Corporation.
What happens inside: The Phoenix operation grows silicon crystals by the Czochralski process, then slices and polishes wafers to a mirror finish. SUMCO calls it a 200 mm crystal and polished-wafer plant, growing ingots up to 200 mm in diameter for its own wafering line. The company lists boron, phosphorus, antimony and arsenic as options for adjusting conductivity.
Land and buildings: SUMCO's Phoenix facility page lists 100 acres, of which 40 acres are developed, and 550,000 square feet of buildings, including 100,000 square feet of cleanroom. SUMCO's page does not say when these figures were measured.
Workforce: The same page lists 470 employees: 390 in production and 80 in administration. SUMCO does not say when the count was taken.
When it started: The Phoenix site history says construction broke ground in October 1995, was completed in January 1997, and produced its first wafer shipment in June 1997.
Other U.S. manufacturing: SUMCO lists an epitaxial wafer plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, separate from the Phoenix polished-wafer line.
Worldwide scale: The Japanese parent reported 9,714 consolidated employees on December 31, 2025 and ¥409.6 billion in 2025 sales. Both figures are group-wide, not Arizona employment or Arizona sales.
The material before the chip: A wafer is the flat base on which semiconductor companies fabricate circuits. SUMCO's Phoenix operation makes those wafers, so it belongs at the materials stage of the chip supply chain, before circuit fabrication and chip packaging.
An important distinction: The Phoenix plant makes 200 mm wafers. Other SUMCO wafer types, such as the epitaxial wafers made in Albuquerque, come from other plants. Phoenix supplies starting material; it does not make processors.
How wafers become usable: SUMCO describes growing high-purity monocrystalline silicon, slicing it and polishing it. A wafer's purity and surface quality matter because chip fabrication adds finely patterned circuits on top of that material.
Each figure is dated and linked to its source. Figures that are company-reported, announced, or projected rather than measured are labeled.
| Measure | Value | As of | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Address | 19801 N. Tatum Blvd., Phoenix, AZ 85050 | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation |
| Plant and U.S. headquarters | SUMCO Southwest Corporation: U.S. headquarters and polished silicon wafer manufacturing | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation |
| Manufacturing process | Grows single-crystal silicon ingots by the Czochralski process, slices wafers and polishes them to a mirror finish | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation |
| Land | 100 acres (40 developed) | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation |
| Buildings | 550,000 sq ft | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation |
| Cleanroom area | 100,000 sq ft | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation |
| Plant activity listed by global parent | Design, development and manufacture of monocrystalline silicon ingots and silicon wafers | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Corporation |
| Measure | Value | As of | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix groundbreaking | October 1995 | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation |
| Phoenix plant construction completed | January 1997 | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation |
| Separate U.S. manufacturing roles | Phoenix manufactures polished silicon wafers; SUMCO's Albuquerque, New Mexico, plant manufactures epitaxial wafers | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation |
| Phoenix plant in global company site data | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation (SPX) Phoenix Plant | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Corporation |
| Measure | Value | As of | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUMCO group employees worldwide at year-end 2025 | 9,714 | 2025-12-31 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Corporation |
| Measure | Value | As of | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Products at group level | Polished, epitaxial and annealed silicon wafers, among other wafer products | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Corporation |
| Conductivity-adjusting wafer dopants listed for Phoenix | Boron, phosphorus, antimony and arsenic | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation |
| Measure | Value | As of | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUMCO Southwest Corporation incorporated in Arizona | September 20, 1995 | 2026-11-04 | verified | Arizona Corporation Commission |
| Phoenix operating-company ownership | SUMCO Southwest Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of SUMCO Phoenix Corporation | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Phoenix Corporation |
| Shareholder of SUMCO Phoenix Corporation | SUMCO Corporation | 2026-11-04 | verified | Arizona Corporation Commission |
| Current SUMCO Corporation established | July 30, 1999 | 1999-07-30 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Corporation |
| Parent adopted SUMCO Corporation name | August 2005 | 2026-11-03 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Corporation |
| SUMCO Corporation consolidated sales, 2025 | ¥409.6 billion | 2025-12-31 | company-reported From the company's own published information. | SUMCO Corporation |
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SUMCO Southwest Corporation's U.S. headquarters and polished-wafer plant is at 19801 N. Tatum Blvd., Phoenix, AZ 85050.
SUMCO's Phoenix plant is a 200 mm crystal and polished-wafer plant. It grows monocrystalline silicon ingots up to 200 millimeters in diameter by the Czochralski process, slices them into wafers and polishes the surfaces to a mirror finish for semiconductor manufacturing.
The parent SUMCO Corporation is publicly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (3436) and headquartered in Tokyo. Its U.S. website identifies SUMCO Southwest Corporation as a wholly owned subsidiary of SUMCO Phoenix Corporation. Arizona Corporation Commission records list SUMCO Corporation as shareholder of SUMCO Phoenix Corporation.
The company's Phoenix site history records groundbreaking in October 1995, construction completion in January 1997 and the first wafer shipment in June 1997. SUMCO Southwest Corporation was incorporated in Arizona on September 20, 1995.
Silicon wafers are the starting material on which chipmakers build circuits. SUMCO's Phoenix site makes polished 200 mm wafers, which places it at the materials stage of the chip supply chain, before chip fabrication and packaging.