Apple to invest billions in Amkor's Peoria facility as part of $100B US manufacturing commitment

By Amy Edelen

Apple Inc. plans to invest billions of dollars into Amkor Technology Inc.'s advanced packaging facility to be built in Peoria as part of a larger $100 billion commitment announced by the California-based tech giant Wednesday to boost its manufacturing in the United States.

Apple’s $100 billion investment will support a new American Manufacturing Program intended to strengthen the company’s supply chain and advanced manufacturing operations in the U.S. The program is also intended to incentivize global companies to manufacture critical components in the U.S., according to a company announcement.

Apple's first AMP partners include Corning, Coherent, GlobalWafers America, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments, Samsung, GlobalFoundries, Broadcom and Tempe-based Amkor. With these new partnerships, Apple said it’s leading the creation of an “end-to-end silicon supply chain in the U.S. with partners in every key aspect of silicon production.”

Apple’s fresh investment builds upon the company’s previously announced $500 billion commitment over four years to support a new advanced manufacturing facility in Houston, a supplier academy in Michigan and a multibillion-dollar allocation to TSMC to produce advanced silicon at the company’s north Phoenix fab site, the Business Journal previously reported.

"Today, they're producing tens of millions of chips for Apple using one of the most advanced process technologies in America," said Apple CEO Tim Cook of TSMC's operations in Arizona. "We're going to keep working with our suppliers to move even more of this incredibly advanced work to America. And this year alone, American manufacturers are on track to make 19 billion chips for Apple in 24 factories across 12 different states."

Apple already a customer of TSMC in Phoenix
Apple previously described itself as "the largest customer at TSMC’s state-of-the-art facility" in north Phoenix, where mass production of Apple chips began in January. Apple committed to sourcing chips from the Arizona TSMC factory back in 2022.

As part of its new $100 billion commitment, Apple is investing an unspecified amount in Amkor's proposed Peoria manufacturing facility to accelerate development of its advanced packaging capabilities in the U.S. Although the company did not disclose a specific dollar amount for its Amkor investment, it amounts to billions of dollars, a White House official told the Business Journal.

Apple is expected to be Amkor’s first and largest customer and will package the tech company's silicon chips.

Just last month, Amkor amended an existing revolving credit facility to add a $500 million tranche of loans to ensure access to capital as it prepares to break ground on its advanced packaging facility in September.

In April, Amkor said it was looking to scale up construction of its Peoria plant faster than anticipated to meet rising demand for semiconductor packaging and test services from its customers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Global Foundries and Apple.

TSMC — also a lead customer of Amkor — completed construction of its second fab and broke ground on its third fab in April, which was months earlier than anticipated.

Applied Materials confirms Chandler investment
California-based Applied Materials Inc. also announced plans Wednesday to invest more than $200 million in Arizona "to establish a state-of-the-art facility for manufacturing critical components for semiconductor equipment," according to an Aug. 6 announcement.

The facility will be located in Chandler and will produce semiconductor equipment components and parts, supporting the "creation of potentially 200 additional manufacturing, R&D and services jobs in the semiconductor field over a five-year period," according to the announcement.

Applied Materials acquired the nearly 182,000-square-foot GO-AZ Ave building in Chandler on June 17 for $41.15 million, according to previous Business Journal reporting. The company on July 9 confirmed to the Business Journal that it was growing its presence in Arizona, but did not confirm the amount of its investment in the Valley or its hiring plans at the Chandler facility.

“Applied Materials' new advanced manufacturing facility will further bolster Arizona's robust semiconductor ecosystem and strengthen U.S. supply chain resiliency,” said Sandra Watson, President and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, in an Aug. 6 statement. “Across important areas such as equipment, R&D, and workforce training, Applied has been a tremendous industry partner, and we're grateful for their continued leadership and commitment to Arizona.”

More details about the American Manufacturing Program
Apple is partnering with GlobalWafers America in Sherman, Texas to produce advanced wafers for use in U.S. semiconductor fabs for the first time. TSMC’s Arizona fabs will use GWA’s 300mm wafers to produce chips for iPhone and iPad devices sold around the world, according to Apple.

The American Manufacturing Program will fund an expansion of Apple’s partnership with New York-based Corning Inc. to bring an advanced smartphone glass production line to a factory in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. The companies will also open a new Apple-Corning Innovation Center in Kentucky.

In addition, Apple committed to buying rare earth magnets developed by Las Vegas-based MP Materials and expanding its partnership with Texas Instruments to support additional tool installations at its facility in Lehi, Utah and a new facility in Sherman, Texas.

What’s more, Apple is working with Samsung at its fab in Austin, Texas, to launch a new technology for making chips and is partnering with GlobalFoundries to bring new capabilities and jobs to the company’s semiconductor facility in Malta, New York.

As part of its overall U.S. investment, Apple plans to continue expanding data center capacity in North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona, and Nevada. The company already operates a data center in Mesa, which it opened in 2018.

In February, an Apple spokesperson acknowledged the company's plans to expand capacity at its Mesa data center, but did not share whether that represents a physical or technological expansion.

Apple expects to hire 20,000 new employees over the next four years as part of its U.S. growth spurt. Thousands of those jobs are expected to be located in Houston, where the company is planning a 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing facility that will support Apple Intelligence, its personal intelligence system.

Apple has more than 80,000 employees in the U.S. and 1,010 in Arizona, according to the company’s website.

Apple’s announcement comes amid President Donald Trump's plans announced Wednesday to apply a 100% semiconductor tariff against companies that do not make their products in the U.S.

In May, Trump warned that he would hit Apple with a tariff of at least 25% if it didn’t move manufacturing of the iPhone to the U.S. after meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook at the White House, Bloomberg reported.

If Cook can obtain tariff carveouts for Apple’s products, it could help the company avoid costs analysts expected to erode profit margins and offer a competitive advantage over rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., according to Bloomberg.

Final Thoughts:
Apple’s multi-billion-dollar investment in Amkor’s upcoming Peoria facility is part of a sweeping $100 billion American Manufacturing Program designed to localize advanced semiconductor production and packaging. This move strengthens Arizona’s role in the national chip supply chain, accelerates Amkor’s growth, and positions Apple as a central player in reshoring critical manufacturing. With TSMC, Applied Materials, and other tech giants also expanding in the region, Arizona is emerging as a key hub in America’s semiconductor resurgence.