September 11, 2025 • 25 mins
SEMI's flagship event, SEMICON West, is moving to Phoenix, Arizona this October 7-9, 2025, after 35 years in San Francisco, coinciding with the region's semiconductor manufacturing boom and $200 billion in announced investments. In this episode, Françoise speaks with SEMI Americas president, Joe Stockunas, who shares reasons for the move and what attendees can expect to experience. This includes:
• Move driven by need to refresh the event and bring it closer to industry growth
• New October timing based on attendee feedback to avoid disrupting July holidays
• CEO Summit featuring keynotes from Arizona Governor Hobbs, TSMC, NVIDIA, and Intel
• Exhibition floor expanding to over 1,500 booths (50% increase from last year)
• Technical tracks focused on advanced packaging, AI, cybersecurity, and workforce development
• Street fair networking event Tuesday evening on 3rd Street
• Student attendance expected to jump from 700 to 7,000 thanks to proximity to Arizona's educational institutions
• Special SemiQuest exhibit at Arizona Science Museum running September through year-end
• Global Semicon events continue growing, with Semicon India doubling to 1,000 booths
For registration and complete program information, visit semiconwest.org or download the event app to navigate the show and build your agenda.
A global association, SEMI represents the entire electronics manufacturing and design supply chain.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Francoise von Trapp (00:00):
This episode of the 3D Insights
podcast is brought to you bySEMI, the leading
microelectronics industryassociation, with programs that
help its members grow theirbusiness and address top
challenges worldwide.
With a global focus on advocacy, the microelectronics supply
chain, sustainability andworkforce development, semi
works with industry leaders toalign goals, share best
(00:21):
practices and accelerateprogress.
Learn more at semiorg.
Hi there, I'm Francoise vonTrapp, and this is the 3D
Insights Podcast.
(00:44):
Hi everyone, are you ready for abig change in the semiconductor
industry event space this year?
Because, if you haven't alreadynoticed, semi's flagship event,
semicon West, did not takeplace in San Francisco in July,
like it has for the past 35years, and that's because
SemiCon West 2025 is happeningin a new location in Phoenix,
(01:05):
arizona, and if you've evervisited Phoenix in July, well,
you know that that's not reallysomething you want to do and,
trust me, I live here.
But by mid-October, which iswhen Semicon West is happening
October 7th to 9th, it should belovely.
So here to talk to me all aboutit is President of
Semi-America's, joe Stacunas.
Welcome back to the podcast,joe.
Joe Stockunas (01:26):
Thank you, Francois.
It's great to be with you againand we are very excited about
the move to Phoenix and all thatwe've got planned.
So I'm yours.
Francoise von Trapp (01:36):
So you know , we've been talking about this
change for, I think, two years.
Let's remind the listeners,though why did we decide to move
?
Joe Stockunas (01:44):
We've been having Semi-Cons for over 50 years and
this was really something Ipersonally drove.
I've been going to shows for along time and I really do think
that shows have a bit of a lifeand you've got to change them,
You've got to refresh them,You've got to bring something to
keep your audience.
Francoise von Trapp (02:02):
Yeah.
Joe Stockunas (02:07):
I thought it was a good idea to move it around a
little bit and making thatchoice, I do want to rest
assured we're really focused onsupporting our communities.
You know a lot of shows are inOrlando or Las Vegas, you know,
but you know I have a hard timefinding any semiconductor
employees in Las Vegas.
So we really look hard at youknow, where could we go, do
something a little bit differentand excite our audience?
(02:27):
And so we looked at Phoenix, welooked at Portland, we looked
at San Jose, we looked at Austinand it really came down to.
You know, san Francisco andPhoenix are the only two
locations in the US that reallyhave a sizable convention center
that could host Semi-Columbia.
And then, when you combine itwith just all what's going on in
Phoenix, I mean it is just soexciting.
(02:48):
You know I'm tracking how manyinvestments have been announced
since Chiptek and we're up toabout $600 billion around the
country and over 200 of that isin Phoenix.
Francoise von Trapp (03:01):
So nowhere more exciting than that in
Phoenix, so nowhere moreexciting than that.
Why the decision to go back andforth, then, between Phoenix
and San Francisco?
Wouldn't it be easier just tokeep it here?
Joe Stockunas (03:12):
Well again, it's a big change.
We've been in San Francisco for35 years.
Semicon is a part of that.
The one thing I do want toclarify on the show will be in
October.
We did get feedback.
We would often disrupt folks'Independence Day holiday with
Semicon West.
You know the weekend would begetting over and folks would be
going on, and we got feedback.
(03:33):
You know a lot of folks want totake vacation with their
families and all.
So we did get a significantamount of feedback that folks
would prefer not to meet in July.
So October works well and we dohave a very busy Semicon
schedule.
As you and I have talked in thepast.
We have 80 to 100,000 to evenmore attending our Semicons
(03:53):
around the world, and we're upto eight right now.
It is a bit of a crowdedschedule, but boy, there's just
so much going on in our industryand it doesn't appear that
there's any resistance to ourschedule.
The shows just keep gettingbigger everywhere.
I mentioned the number 180,000people attend at Semicon China.
(04:14):
Wow, last December we had106,000 people at Semicon Japan.
We'll have 80,000 people inTaiwan next month and we're
expecting 35,000 to 40,000 atSemicon West this year.
Francoise von Trapp (04:27):
How about Semicon India, india?
Joe Stockunas (04:29):
Wow, amazing.
Last year was the first year,right?
These numbers will blow youaway.
We were planning on having 60to 80 booths and we had
something like 500.
And it's going to double againthis year.
So we're expecting 1,000 boothsin India this year.
Francoise von Trapp (04:46):
Well, I've definitely been getting news
from our members who areparticipating in India this year
, so that's really interesting.
But you don't think there'sgoing to be impact on having
these shows close together forexhibitors to be able to go to
all of them, or do you thinkthey're just dividing and
conquering and having differentteams at different shows?
Joe Stockunas (05:03):
There's different teams at different shows,
there's different markets, ourfolks in Asia.
We're trying to space the showsin Asia, that there's at least
a two-month gap.
India is a little differentmarket, but we have Taiwan in
September and then we don't haveJapan until January and then we
have December excuse me, thankyou and then Korea's in February
(05:24):
, china's in March and thenSoutheast Asia in May.
So we're trying to space thingsbecause folks do like to reuse
their boots from one show to thenext in Asia, but it's not
financially viable to ship bootsfrom one continent to the other
, from Asia to the US, or so, sofolks come to S other, from
Asia to the US, or so, so folkscome to SEMICA bottom line.
(05:45):
We start the year every yearhere in the US with ISS and the
message that was repeated eachday at least once by our
speakers on the stage at ISS wasit's a good time to be in the
semiconductor industry and withthat goes along, it's a good
time to be with STEMI as well.
So our STEMI events are reallyjust tremendous.
(06:06):
From our small regional eventsto our large SEMICONs.
It's been a really good turnout.
Francoise von Trapp (06:14):
Okay, so let's talk about SEMICON West.
What are some of the highlightsthat attendees should plan on
from the CEO Summit keynoteprogram this year?
Joe Stockunas (06:24):
We've got about 12 presentations and a couple of
panels.
We're doing things a little bitdifferent this year.
Last year we went all day onkey issues in the US on Tuesday
and all day on global issues onWednesday, and my only
disappointment was the keynotestage competed with the show
floor and we had great speakersand the speakers in the
afternoon deserved a biggeraudience.
(06:46):
So this year what we're doingis we're just going to keep it
to the morning, but we're goingto go Tuesday, wednesday,
thursday.
We've got anchor presentationsfor each of the days, so, really
excited about that.
We've had tremendous supportfrom our partners in Arizona and
, to point to that, our veryfirst presenter will be Governor
(07:07):
Hobbs, the governor of Arizona,and she's a real dynamo and a
tremendous supporter of ourindustry and we're really
pleased to have her lead thingsoff.
And we'll anchor the day alsowith the TSMC presentation on
Tuesday.
Lam's got some really cooltechnology that we'll showcase
on the stage.
Tuesday, lam's got some reallycool technology that we'll
showcase on the stage.
Dupont is spinning off theirelectronics business on the 1st
(07:29):
of November, so this will be anopportunity for the gentleman
who currently runs the DuPontelectronics business.
He'll become the CEO of the newentity and we're giving him an
opportunity to talk about thechallenges of the global
material supply chain.
The other thing we're lookingto do if I may just Move off
just slightly on this to make apoint, we've had just tremendous
(07:51):
response, great attendance,growth in exhibitors, wonderful
content on the show floor.
But the other thing that I feelwe really should do is we
should also have a few each day,a few 10-minute breaks where we
recognize different things thatare really wonderful for our
(08:16):
industry.
And on Tuesday, for example,semi has been selected by a
joint funding from the NationalScience Foundation and the
Department of Commerce tooperate the National Network for
Microelectronics Education.
So we'll make that formalannouncement and we'll have
folks from NSF and DOC on thestage with us.
And we're also going to awardon Tuesday our Semi-Americas
(08:38):
Award, which recognizes reallybig enabling technology that's
had a strong impact oncontinuing to provide growth in
the semiconductor industry.
So we'll be making that awardas well on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the focus isgoing to be principally on AI.
We can't have a meeting withouttalking about AI these days.
We do have a new chairman ofthe board of CEMI's governing
(09:00):
board and that's Tian Wu, who'sthe CEO of ASC, and he'll start
off the day and share his visionfor CEMI in just a few minutes.
Francoise von Trapp (09:09):
He's a fabulous speaker.
I love hearing him.
Joe Stockunas (09:11):
But our first true keynote presentation will
be NVIDIA, such a key player inAI today and semiconductor, so
really excited to have theNVIDIA folks with us.
I'm encouraging them to bringthe dog robot.
I think it would be great tohave the dog robot on the stage.
Francoise von Trapp (09:28):
I was just going to say are there going to
be any AI demonstrations or isit just going to be a lot of
talking about it?
Joe Stockunas (09:34):
The speaker is their leader for robotics.
I'll let the robot chase mearound on the stage.
Francoise von Trapp (09:39):
That'll be fun.
Joe Stockunas (09:41):
We'll do whatever it takes and we're also going
to have a great panel.
I've got five industry leadersrepresenting two equipment
companies, representing twodevice manufacturers and a
material supplier, and againvery leading individuals for our
industry, and they're going totalk about the impact on AI,
both from a market perspective,but then also how AI will
(10:04):
benefit our industryoperationally and from an
infrastructure perspective.
Francoise von Trapp (10:08):
That's a big story.
Right now, anybody going to betalking about the power drain
that AI is creating on theglobal grid?
Joe Stockunas (10:16):
That'll come up in the panel as well, and I do
expect there'll be others whoare going to bring up and show
how we have improved the powerconsumption of semiconductors in
the last 30 years by 10,000fold.
We will continue to driveefficiency in semiconductor
power efficiency and I amconfident that that will come up
in that panel discussion.
(10:38):
The design community is veryvibrant within the STEMI world
and John Cabrarian, who's theCEO of PDF and also the co-chair
of the ESDA tech community atSTEMI, will speak to how AI is
creating markets for design andthen how AI is enabling design
capability at new levels too.
(10:58):
So that'll be a greatpresentation.
We're going to have Gil fromAmcor Amcor's got a $4 billion
investment you know anotherexample of what's going on in
Phoenix and he'll talk aboutadvanced packaging, which is so
important to enabling AI chips,both from the processor and from
a high bandwidth memoryperspective.
(11:18):
So it'd be great to have him.
And then the last presentationis going to be really
interesting.
We're actually having the folksfrom Merck.
They're bringing in their headof strategy and their head of HR
.
They call it the chief peopleperson.
Those two folks will present avery interesting presentation on
how AI will affect theworkplace and all the
(11:39):
individuals who come to workwithin the semiconductor
industry.
So, again, really exciting dayon Wednesday and very much
anchored with some really keypresentations from leading
investors and thought providers,and then on Thursday we're
going to take on the challengesin the industry.
It's a great time to be in Semibut boy, there's a lot going on
and things that we all strugglewith.
(12:01):
So we've invited Paul DeBar,who I met last month he's the
Deputy Secretary of Commerce andinvited him to come and share
perspective on where theadministration is going with
supporting the semiconductorindustry.
We will have an Intelpresentation the leader of Intel
and then we'll havepresentations on workforce
(12:21):
development, on sustainability,which will also talk about
energy needs, and our lastpresentation, I think, will be a
very interesting one as well.
One of the really driving issuesright now is cybersecurity and
industrial security as a whole,and Keith Kroc.
He was the CEO of DocuSign andalso served in the
(12:44):
administration as anundersecretary of state.
He's focused now on technicaldiplomacy and basically ensure
that we have a safeinfrastructure within the global
tech network.
So I think that'll be a reallyinteresting experience to hear
his thoughts on what's importantand how we manage that going
forward.
So that's the CEO Summit.
(13:05):
We'll use the CEO stage in theafternoons on Tuesday and
Wednesday Great paneldiscussions.
We will have five folks who areleaders in the government
affairs organizations within ourlarge companies.
We'll have folks from devicemanufacturers, equipment
suppliers and materials Again,that holy trinity that makes up
our industry in so many ways onstage with a leading journalist
(13:35):
from Reuters and having adiscussion around what has
become arguably the mostsignificant issue.
New to us this year is theincreasing uncertainty and
questions around tariff andtrade.
Francoise von Trapp (13:45):
I mean, everything's kind of up in the
air, joe, isn't it?
It's all really up in the air,nothing's certain.
The tariff conversation that wehave in October might be
completely different than thetariff conversation we could
have today.
Joe Stockunas (13:59):
I've been very careful to put a very broad
title on the panel discussionfor just that reason.
God only knows where we'll beJust seven weeks away.
Yeah.
Francoise von Trapp (14:08):
I'm so glad that you're addressing all of
these challenges, because I dobelieve that that's what a lot
of people really want to come tohear about and what Semi is
doing and what the industry isdoing to address the challenges.
Joe Stockunas (14:20):
We'll have a panel discussion on energy
efficiency, which you brought upalready, and we will have a
panel discussion on thechallenges of the global supply
chain and you know you see it inthe news all the time now
critical materials, criticalminerals, and how important that
is and how challenging it is,so that'll all get discussed.
Finally, we'll have somethingthat I personally have been
(14:41):
going to for 30 years and alwaysget a kick out of.
We'll bring the Wall Streetanalysts on the stage for our
bulls and bears and get theirperspective on how things are
going.
You know that 401k is probablylooking pretty good for you and
everyone else right now,francois.
Francoise von Trapp (14:56):
It took a big dive in April.
Joe Stockunas (14:58):
It's coming back, but you know we're really
helping a lot of portfoliosright now, so it'll be fun to
have those folks there as well.
Francoise von Trapp (15:04):
I want to encourage people who are
attending to make sure they maketime, especially to stay
through to Thursday morning,because we often see where the
hot days are Tuesday andWednesday and people start
trickling out on Thursday.
But it seems like a lot ofthose challenges are going to be
addressed on Thursday, so planaccordingly.
Listeners, how about some ofthe technical tracks?
(15:26):
How is that being handled?
Joe Stockunas (15:29):
I walked away from last year's SemiCon West
with some of the thoughts thatreally hit me, and the number
one thought was my lastassignment when I was in
industry.
I led a back-end packaging andtest business and we were very
fortunate.
We got involved in advancedpackaging early and did really
well with it.
I can go back almost 10 yearsnow, but it was always referred
(15:51):
to as the future, and I walkedaway from Semicon West last year
with the first item that hit meat Semicon West is the future
of advanced packaging is nowheterogeneous integration, the
technologies that are movingforward, the challenges, how
chiplets will make everythingwork a little bit better, what
(16:14):
the testing challenges are as wego forward.
So that's been very prevalent.
We will also have a full day oncybersecurity.
So what goes on in the keynotestage?
In many cases, we will thenhave a day or up to three days
of content at the show.
In total, we have over 500speakers, 63 sessions of content
(16:36):
.
There'll be something foreveryone.
One of the things that's newthis year I really want to
feature.
Our industry has been the placewhere companies do startup work
, and before you know it,they're NVIDIA and they're worth
$4 trillion.
So you know people who startoff in Denny's end up being the
most valued company in the world.
We're co-sponsoring with Plugand Play this year an afternoon
(16:58):
session that will focus on theprogression from basically being
a startup to raising venturecapital and what it takes and
how to be successful indeveloping new technologies.
You will have test and vision,as we've had for the last few
years.
Again, that lies very nicelywith some of the things that are
going on with advancedpackaging.
(17:20):
There'll be a smattering of thefuture.
You'll see presentations onquantum computing and where
that's going and how fast it'sactually coming.
Bottom line is there'ssomething for everyone at
Semicom West this year.
Francoise von Trapp (17:34):
Of course, we don't want to leave out the
exhibitors.
While you're spending time inall of the sessions, also make
sure to walk through the floors,because how many exhibitors do
we have this year?
Joe Stockunas (17:44):
We've got more than 1,500 booths occupied and
last year in Moscone, to giveyou some feel, we were at 1,053.
So I'm rather confident thatwe'll get up to right around a
50% increase in exhibition spaceand we will have plenty of
product.
But we also have folks who arelooking to develop market and
(18:04):
folks from the economicdevelopment organizations around
the world will be present atWest.
West is very firm in itsposition as the place where the
thought leaders, the know, themovers and shakers of the
semiconductor industry cometogether every year for three
days and we'll also, on Monday,before the show starts, we'll
have our market symposium, whichis very popular.
(18:25):
We get five 600 people to comeand pay a little bit extra to
hear what the market analystsare thinking is going to happen
in the market in the next 12months or so.
So that also is a key featurefor it.
I mentioned that I really wantto do a little bit more
celebration and recognition.
So we've got something prettymuch every day on the keynote
stage that we're recognizingfolks who are making a
(18:48):
difference in our industry.
We'll have a 20 under 30recognition, which is 20 people
under 30 years.
We're recognizing a Europeancompany that's been in Phoenix
for more than 30 years and havebeen a real mover and shaker in
technology that's been enablingand continues to enable key
players in the heterogeneousintegration world today.
(19:12):
So we'll recognize them.
We'll have oursemiemi-Technology Award, and
then what I think is reallygoing to be fun is we're having
a street fair on Tuesday evening.
Convention Center straddles 3rdStreet in Phoenix and we're
able to shut down the street andwe'll have a street fair from 8
to 11 on Tuesday evening aswell.
So we'll have a country-westernband, we'll have all kinds of
(19:34):
theme in the street and I'm veryconfident that we'll have a
really good time for everyone.
Francoise von Trapp (19:40):
I was just going to ask you about the
networking.
So there's the street fair.
I mean, we know that a lot ofcompanies have their own
satellite parties.
Is that going to be differentthis year?
People going to be expecting toget invitations to different
functions to be different thisyear.
Joe Stockunas (19:55):
People are going to be expecting to get
invitations to differentfunctions.
So we're very cognizant of thatand you can certainly have a
lot of fun because usually latein the day, around four o'clock,
we have a happy hours anddifferent adjacent to the show
floor where, you know again, thedifferent communities come
together for a quick networkingsession for an hour or so and
then basically from 530 to 830,there's a lot of hospitality
held by our member companies andwe're not going to get in the
(20:17):
way of that.
Our event starts at about 8.30at night and we expect it to go
to 11.
We're really looking to presentquite the party, so there'll be
opportunities for folks to gettogether, network and socialize
from 4 pm to about 11 on Tuesdaynight and then some of the
vendors are actually going touse that space on 3rd Street on
Wednesday night for theirhospitality as well.
Francoise von Trapp (20:39):
Okay, well, it sounds like a really good
old Phoenix.
Good time.
Joe Stockunas (20:42):
Absolutely.
Francoise von Trapp (20:43):
People need to pace themselves.
Hydrate people.
This is Phoenix.
Even if it's cooler, it's stilldry.
I cannot stress this enoughHydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
Joe Stockunas (20:54):
I do have a task for you.
I'm a little nervous about thetemperature, and this is where I
cannot stress this enoughHydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
I do have a task for you.
I'm a little nervous about thetemperature, and this is where
you come in.
You're the coolest person inthe semiconductor industry, so
I've got to have you right smackin the center of Third Street.
So just to ensure that if weneed to cool things down a
little bit, it's just yourpresence will take care of that.
So I'm really looking forwardto having you there?
Francoise von Trapp (21:17):
Oh my God, front and center.
Yeah, yeah, I know I'm lookingforward to it.
I've been waiting a long timeto have Semicon West in Phoenix,
so it's going to be great.
Heck, I don't even have to geta hotel room, I'm just going to
Uber in and out every day.
Save on parking and not have toworry about the traffic.
Joe Stockunas (21:33):
You're not going to Waymo.
I'm a little disappointed.
You're not going to Waymo.
I love Waymo.
I love Waymo.
Francoise von Trapp (21:39):
I'm not an early adopter, I'm really not.
Joe Stockunas (21:42):
It's worked great for me.
I've been doing it for the lastyear or so.
Francoise von Trapp (21:45):
I do know that some people prefer Waymo
because they don't have to dealwith creepy drivers.
So there's that, and I hearactually that Waymo has expanded
into other countries and thatthey're having Waymo in Paris
and London.
So maybe it will be time to tryit out, you know.
So I don't know, We'll see.
So we've been talking a lotabout Arizona's chip making boom
, but we haven't talked abouthow Arizona is a hub for
(22:08):
industry talent development.
So you know we've got industryand government and academia all
working together here.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthe workforce development
activities that are going tohappen at Semicon West?
Joe Stockunas (22:22):
So you're absolutely right about Arizona.
We are thrilled to be inArizona.
Semi has been I mentioned alittle bit earlier.
Semi's been selected to operatethe National Network for
Microelectronics Education andwe have a strong team focused on
workforce development in theArizona community already and a
lot going on there.
At the show itself we will havethree days of programming
(22:46):
nonstop, featured on the keynotestage but then a workforce
development pavilion which is ahotbed of activity, and this
year we're really expecting itto be a hotbed because the
community in Arizona is so much.
Arizona State has 32,000engineering students and then of
course Maricopa CommunityCollege and the community
(23:06):
college structure in Phoenix isreally focused on supporting our
industry.
And of course U of A is rightthere as well and there's a
really integrated activitybetween SEMI, the semiconductor
community within Phoenix, andthe advanced education program.
So last year we had about 700students at Semicon West in San
(23:28):
Francisco.
We're in the summer Studentsare away from school Having it
in Phoenix, having it during theschool year time.
We're expecting that 700 togrow to 7,000 this year.
And then we also have a specialfeature I'd like to share with
you too.
It'll be happening and it'll befeatured very prominently
during Semi-West but it'll beoperating for several months,
(23:50):
from September through the endof the year.
At the Arizona Science Museumwe're having a featured exhibit
called SemiQuest and it'llreally provide an opportunity
for younger students students inmiddle school and high school
to get an appreciation of howsemiconductor processing takes
place.
So really excited that againit's not just for three days and
(24:13):
our workplace development focusin Phoenix it never stops.
It's there day in and day out.
Francoise von Trapp (24:18):
I'm excited to hear about SemiQuest because
I think Jillian and I need topay a visit and maybe cover that
for 3D Insights as well, andwe've got some opportunity for
that too.
So it's nice to know that it'sgoing to be there between
September and November.
Joe Stockunas (24:33):
We greatly appreciate you coming by.
So where can people go to learnmore?
Hey, semiconwestorg, it's allthere.
So we've got, as I said, 63sessions of content.
Over 500 speakers can find outhow to register and get a hotel
(24:56):
room Everything you need.
We will also have an app thatyou can load onto your phone and
, when you're at the show, it'llmake it easy for you to get
around and develop your agendafor the three days and get the
very most possible out of awonderful event Really the
premier event in thesemiconductor world in the
(25:16):
United States each year.
Francoise von Trapp (25:17):
So I'm really excited and looking
forward to seeing you, Joe,again at Semicon West.
And yeah, thanks for joining metoday.
Joe Stockunas (25:26):
Francois, I can't say enough about what a great
supporter of SEMI you are and Ireally appreciate being here
with you today and I lookforward to seeing you as our
partner at the show in October.
Thank you.
Francoise von Trapp (25:37):
Thanks so much.
There's lots more to come, sotune in next time to the 3D
Insights podcast.
The 3D Insights podcast is aproduction of 3D Insights LLC.
This episode of the 3D Insights
podcast is brought to you bySEMI, the leading
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(00:21):
practices and accelerateprogress.
Learn more at semiorg.
Hi there, I'm Francoise vonTrapp, and this is the 3D
Insights Podcast.
(00:44):
Hi everyone, are you ready for abig change in the semiconductor
industry event space this year?
Because, if you haven't alreadynoticed, semi's flagship event,
semicon West, did not takeplace in San Francisco in July,
like it has for the past 35years, and that's because
SemiCon West 2025 is happeningin a new location in Phoenix,
(01:05):
arizona, and if you've evervisited Phoenix in July, well,
you know that that's not reallysomething you want to do and,
trust me, I live here.
But by mid-October, which iswhen Semicon West is happening
October 7th to 9th, it should belovely.
So here to talk to me all aboutit is President of
Semi-America's, joe Stacunas.
Welcome back to the podcast,joe.
Joe Stockunas (01:26):
Thank you, Francois.
It's great to be with you againand we are very excited about
the move to Phoenix and all thatwe've got planned.
So I'm yours.
Francoise von Trapp (01:36):
So you know , we've been talking about this
change for, I think, two years.
Let's remind the listeners,though why did we decide to move
?
Joe Stockunas (01:44):
We've been having Semi-Cons for over 50 years and
this was really something Ipersonally drove.
I've been going to shows for along time and I really do think
that shows have a bit of a lifeand you've got to change them,
You've got to refresh them,You've got to bring something to
keep your audience.
Francoise von Trapp (02:02):
Yeah.
Joe Stockunas (02:07):
I thought it was a good idea to move it around a
little bit and making thatchoice, I do want to rest
assured we're really focused onsupporting our communities.
You know a lot of shows are inOrlando or Las Vegas, you know,
but you know I have a hard timefinding any semiconductor
employees in Las Vegas.
So we really look hard at youknow, where could we go, do
something a little bit differentand excite our audience?
(02:27):
And so we looked at Phoenix, welooked at Portland, we looked
at San Jose, we looked at Austinand it really came down to.
You know, san Francisco andPhoenix are the only two
locations in the US that reallyhave a sizable convention center
that could host Semi-Columbia.
And then, when you combine itwith just all what's going on in
Phoenix, I mean it is just soexciting.
(02:48):
You know I'm tracking how manyinvestments have been announced
since Chiptek and we're up toabout $600 billion around the
country and over 200 of that isin Phoenix.
Francoise von Trapp (03:01):
So nowhere more exciting than that in
Phoenix, so nowhere moreexciting than that.
Why the decision to go back andforth, then, between Phoenix
and San Francisco?
Wouldn't it be easier just tokeep it here?
Joe Stockunas (03:12):
Well again, it's a big change.
We've been in San Francisco for35 years.
Semicon is a part of that.
The one thing I do want toclarify on the show will be in
October.
We did get feedback.
We would often disrupt folks'Independence Day holiday with
Semicon West.
You know the weekend would begetting over and folks would be
going on, and we got feedback.
(03:33):
You know a lot of folks want totake vacation with their
families and all.
So we did get a significantamount of feedback that folks
would prefer not to meet in July.
So October works well and we dohave a very busy Semicon
schedule.
As you and I have talked in thepast.
We have 80 to 100,000 to evenmore attending our Semicons
(03:53):
around the world, and we're upto eight right now.
It is a bit of a crowdedschedule, but boy, there's just
so much going on in our industryand it doesn't appear that
there's any resistance to ourschedule.
The shows just keep gettingbigger everywhere.
I mentioned the number 180,000people attend at Semicon China.
(04:14):
Wow, last December we had106,000 people at Semicon Japan.
We'll have 80,000 people inTaiwan next month and we're
expecting 35,000 to 40,000 atSemicon West this year.
Francoise von Trapp (04:27):
How about Semicon India, india?
Joe Stockunas (04:29):
Wow, amazing.
Last year was the first year,right?
These numbers will blow youaway.
We were planning on having 60to 80 booths and we had
something like 500.
And it's going to double againthis year.
So we're expecting 1,000 boothsin India this year.
Francoise von Trapp (04:46):
Well, I've definitely been getting news
from our members who areparticipating in India this year
, so that's really interesting.
But you don't think there'sgoing to be impact on having
these shows close together forexhibitors to be able to go to
all of them, or do you thinkthey're just dividing and
conquering and having differentteams at different shows?
Joe Stockunas (05:03):
There's different teams at different shows,
there's different markets, ourfolks in Asia.
We're trying to space the showsin Asia, that there's at least
a two-month gap.
India is a little differentmarket, but we have Taiwan in
September and then we don't haveJapan until January and then we
have December excuse me, thankyou and then Korea's in February
(05:24):
, china's in March and thenSoutheast Asia in May.
So we're trying to space thingsbecause folks do like to reuse
their boots from one show to thenext in Asia, but it's not
financially viable to ship bootsfrom one continent to the other
, from Asia to the US, or so, sofolks come to S other, from
Asia to the US, or so, so folkscome to SEMICA bottom line.
(05:45):
We start the year every yearhere in the US with ISS and the
message that was repeated eachday at least once by our
speakers on the stage at ISS wasit's a good time to be in the
semiconductor industry and withthat goes along, it's a good
time to be with STEMI as well.
So our STEMI events are reallyjust tremendous.
(06:06):
From our small regional eventsto our large SEMICONs.
It's been a really good turnout.
Francoise von Trapp (06:14):
Okay, so let's talk about SEMICON West.
What are some of the highlightsthat attendees should plan on
from the CEO Summit keynoteprogram this year?
Joe Stockunas (06:24):
We've got about 12 presentations and a couple of
panels.
We're doing things a little bitdifferent this year.
Last year we went all day onkey issues in the US on Tuesday
and all day on global issues onWednesday, and my only
disappointment was the keynotestage competed with the show
floor and we had great speakersand the speakers in the
afternoon deserved a biggeraudience.
(06:46):
So this year what we're doingis we're just going to keep it
to the morning, but we're goingto go Tuesday, wednesday,
thursday.
We've got anchor presentationsfor each of the days, so, really
excited about that.
We've had tremendous supportfrom our partners in Arizona and
, to point to that, our veryfirst presenter will be Governor
(07:07):
Hobbs, the governor of Arizona,and she's a real dynamo and a
tremendous supporter of ourindustry and we're really
pleased to have her lead thingsoff.
And we'll anchor the day alsowith the TSMC presentation on
Tuesday.
Lam's got some really cooltechnology that we'll showcase
on the stage.
Tuesday, lam's got some reallycool technology that we'll
showcase on the stage.
Dupont is spinning off theirelectronics business on the 1st
(07:29):
of November, so this will be anopportunity for the gentleman
who currently runs the DuPontelectronics business.
He'll become the CEO of the newentity and we're giving him an
opportunity to talk about thechallenges of the global
material supply chain.
The other thing we're lookingto do if I may just Move off
just slightly on this to make apoint, we've had just tremendous
(07:51):
response, great attendance,growth in exhibitors, wonderful
content on the show floor.
But the other thing that I feelwe really should do is we
should also have a few each day,a few 10-minute breaks where we
recognize different things thatare really wonderful for our
(08:16):
industry.
And on Tuesday, for example,semi has been selected by a
joint funding from the NationalScience Foundation and the
Department of Commerce tooperate the National Network for
Microelectronics Education.
So we'll make that formalannouncement and we'll have
folks from NSF and DOC on thestage with us.
And we're also going to awardon Tuesday our Semi-Americas
(08:38):
Award, which recognizes reallybig enabling technology that's
had a strong impact oncontinuing to provide growth in
the semiconductor industry.
So we'll be making that awardas well on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the focus isgoing to be principally on AI.
We can't have a meeting withouttalking about AI these days.
We do have a new chairman ofthe board of CEMI's governing
(09:00):
board and that's Tian Wu, who'sthe CEO of ASC, and he'll start
off the day and share his visionfor CEMI in just a few minutes.
Francoise von Trapp (09:09):
He's a fabulous speaker.
I love hearing him.
Joe Stockunas (09:11):
But our first true keynote presentation will
be NVIDIA, such a key player inAI today and semiconductor, so
really excited to have theNVIDIA folks with us.
I'm encouraging them to bringthe dog robot.
I think it would be great tohave the dog robot on the stage.
Francoise von Trapp (09:28):
I was just going to say are there going to
be any AI demonstrations or isit just going to be a lot of
talking about it?
Joe Stockunas (09:34):
The speaker is their leader for robotics.
I'll let the robot chase mearound on the stage.
Francoise von Trapp (09:39):
That'll be fun.
Joe Stockunas (09:41):
We'll do whatever it takes and we're also going
to have a great panel.
I've got five industry leadersrepresenting two equipment
companies, representing twodevice manufacturers and a
material supplier, and againvery leading individuals for our
industry, and they're going totalk about the impact on AI,
both from a market perspective,but then also how AI will
(10:04):
benefit our industryoperationally and from an
infrastructure perspective.
Francoise von Trapp (10:08):
That's a big story.
Right now, anybody going to betalking about the power drain
that AI is creating on theglobal grid?
Joe Stockunas (10:16):
That'll come up in the panel as well, and I do
expect there'll be others whoare going to bring up and show
how we have improved the powerconsumption of semiconductors in
the last 30 years by 10,000fold.
We will continue to driveefficiency in semiconductor
power efficiency and I amconfident that that will come up
in that panel discussion.
(10:38):
The design community is veryvibrant within the STEMI world
and John Cabrarian, who's theCEO of PDF and also the co-chair
of the ESDA tech community atSTEMI, will speak to how AI is
creating markets for design andthen how AI is enabling design
capability at new levels too.
(10:58):
So that'll be a greatpresentation.
We're going to have Gil fromAmcor Amcor's got a $4 billion
investment you know anotherexample of what's going on in
Phoenix and he'll talk aboutadvanced packaging, which is so
important to enabling AI chips,both from the processor and from
a high bandwidth memoryperspective.
(11:18):
So it'd be great to have him.
And then the last presentationis going to be really
interesting.
We're actually having the folksfrom Merck.
They're bringing in their headof strategy and their head of HR
.
They call it the chief peopleperson.
Those two folks will present avery interesting presentation on
how AI will affect theworkplace and all the
(11:39):
individuals who come to workwithin the semiconductor
industry.
So, again, really exciting dayon Wednesday and very much
anchored with some really keypresentations from leading
investors and thought providers,and then on Thursday we're
going to take on the challengesin the industry.
It's a great time to be in Semibut boy, there's a lot going on
and things that we all strugglewith.
(12:01):
So we've invited Paul DeBar,who I met last month he's the
Deputy Secretary of Commerce andinvited him to come and share
perspective on where theadministration is going with
supporting the semiconductorindustry.
We will have an Intelpresentation the leader of Intel
and then we'll havepresentations on workforce
(12:21):
development, on sustainability,which will also talk about
energy needs, and our lastpresentation, I think, will be a
very interesting one as well.
One of the really driving issuesright now is cybersecurity and
industrial security as a whole,and Keith Kroc.
He was the CEO of DocuSign andalso served in the
(12:44):
administration as anundersecretary of state.
He's focused now on technicaldiplomacy and basically ensure
that we have a safeinfrastructure within the global
tech network.
So I think that'll be a reallyinteresting experience to hear
his thoughts on what's importantand how we manage that going
forward.
So that's the CEO Summit.
(13:05):
We'll use the CEO stage in theafternoons on Tuesday and
Wednesday Great paneldiscussions.
We will have five folks who areleaders in the government
affairs organizations within ourlarge companies.
We'll have folks from devicemanufacturers, equipment
suppliers and materials Again,that holy trinity that makes up
our industry in so many ways onstage with a leading journalist
(13:35):
from Reuters and having adiscussion around what has
become arguably the mostsignificant issue.
New to us this year is theincreasing uncertainty and
questions around tariff andtrade.
Francoise von Trapp (13:45):
I mean, everything's kind of up in the
air, joe, isn't it?
It's all really up in the air,nothing's certain.
The tariff conversation that wehave in October might be
completely different than thetariff conversation we could
have today.
Joe Stockunas (13:59):
I've been very careful to put a very broad
title on the panel discussionfor just that reason.
God only knows where we'll beJust seven weeks away.
Yeah.
Francoise von Trapp (14:08):
I'm so glad that you're addressing all of
these challenges, because I dobelieve that that's what a lot
of people really want to come tohear about and what Semi is
doing and what the industry isdoing to address the challenges.
Joe Stockunas (14:20):
We'll have a panel discussion on energy
efficiency, which you brought upalready, and we will have a
panel discussion on thechallenges of the global supply
chain and you know you see it inthe news all the time now
critical materials, criticalminerals, and how important that
is and how challenging it is,so that'll all get discussed.
Finally, we'll have somethingthat I personally have been
(14:41):
going to for 30 years and alwaysget a kick out of.
We'll bring the Wall Streetanalysts on the stage for our
bulls and bears and get theirperspective on how things are
going.
You know that 401k is probablylooking pretty good for you and
everyone else right now,francois.
Francoise von Trapp (14:56):
It took a big dive in April.
Joe Stockunas (14:58):
It's coming back, but you know we're really
helping a lot of portfoliosright now, so it'll be fun to
have those folks there as well.
Francoise von Trapp (15:04):
I want to encourage people who are
attending to make sure they maketime, especially to stay
through to Thursday morning,because we often see where the
hot days are Tuesday andWednesday and people start
trickling out on Thursday.
But it seems like a lot ofthose challenges are going to be
addressed on Thursday, so planaccordingly.
Listeners, how about some ofthe technical tracks?
(15:26):
How is that being handled?
Joe Stockunas (15:29):
I walked away from last year's SemiCon West
with some of the thoughts thatreally hit me, and the number
one thought was my lastassignment when I was in
industry.
I led a back-end packaging andtest business and we were very
fortunate.
We got involved in advancedpackaging early and did really
well with it.
I can go back almost 10 yearsnow, but it was always referred
(15:51):
to as the future, and I walkedaway from Semicon West last year
with the first item that hit meat Semicon West is the future
of advanced packaging is nowheterogeneous integration, the
technologies that are movingforward, the challenges, how
chiplets will make everythingwork a little bit better, what
(16:14):
the testing challenges are as wego forward.
So that's been very prevalent.
We will also have a full day oncybersecurity.
So what goes on in the keynotestage?
In many cases, we will thenhave a day or up to three days
of content at the show.
In total, we have over 500speakers, 63 sessions of content
(16:36):
.
There'll be something foreveryone.
One of the things that's newthis year I really want to
feature.
Our industry has been the placewhere companies do startup work
, and before you know it,they're NVIDIA and they're worth
$4 trillion.
So you know people who startoff in Denny's end up being the
most valued company in the world.
We're co-sponsoring with Plugand Play this year an afternoon
(16:58):
session that will focus on theprogression from basically being
a startup to raising venturecapital and what it takes and
how to be successful indeveloping new technologies.
You will have test and vision,as we've had for the last few
years.
Again, that lies very nicelywith some of the things that are
going on with advancedpackaging.
(17:20):
There'll be a smattering of thefuture.
You'll see presentations onquantum computing and where
that's going and how fast it'sactually coming.
Bottom line is there'ssomething for everyone at
Semicom West this year.
Francoise von Trapp (17:34):
Of course, we don't want to leave out the
exhibitors.
While you're spending time inall of the sessions, also make
sure to walk through the floors,because how many exhibitors do
we have this year?
Joe Stockunas (17:44):
We've got more than 1,500 booths occupied and
last year in Moscone, to giveyou some feel, we were at 1,053.
So I'm rather confident thatwe'll get up to right around a
50% increase in exhibition spaceand we will have plenty of
product.
But we also have folks who arelooking to develop market and
(18:04):
folks from the economicdevelopment organizations around
the world will be present atWest.
West is very firm in itsposition as the place where the
thought leaders, the know, themovers and shakers of the
semiconductor industry cometogether every year for three
days and we'll also, on Monday,before the show starts, we'll
have our market symposium, whichis very popular.
(18:25):
We get five 600 people to comeand pay a little bit extra to
hear what the market analystsare thinking is going to happen
in the market in the next 12months or so.
So that also is a key featurefor it.
I mentioned that I really wantto do a little bit more
celebration and recognition.
So we've got something prettymuch every day on the keynote
stage that we're recognizingfolks who are making a
(18:48):
difference in our industry.
We'll have a 20 under 30recognition, which is 20 people
under 30 years.
We're recognizing a Europeancompany that's been in Phoenix
for more than 30 years and havebeen a real mover and shaker in
technology that's been enablingand continues to enable key
players in the heterogeneousintegration world today.
(19:12):
So we'll recognize them.
We'll have oursemiemi-Technology Award, and
then what I think is reallygoing to be fun is we're having
a street fair on Tuesday evening.
Convention Center straddles 3rdStreet in Phoenix and we're
able to shut down the street andwe'll have a street fair from 8
to 11 on Tuesday evening aswell.
So we'll have a country-westernband, we'll have all kinds of
(19:34):
theme in the street and I'm veryconfident that we'll have a
really good time for everyone.
Francoise von Trapp (19:40):
I was just going to ask you about the
networking.
So there's the street fair.
I mean, we know that a lot ofcompanies have their own
satellite parties.
Is that going to be differentthis year?
People going to be expecting toget invitations to different
functions to be different thisyear.
Joe Stockunas (19:55):
People are going to be expecting to get
invitations to differentfunctions.
So we're very cognizant of thatand you can certainly have a
lot of fun because usually latein the day, around four o'clock,
we have a happy hours anddifferent adjacent to the show
floor where, you know again, thedifferent communities come
together for a quick networkingsession for an hour or so and
then basically from 530 to 830,there's a lot of hospitality
held by our member companies andwe're not going to get in the
(20:17):
way of that.
Our event starts at about 8.30at night and we expect it to go
to 11.
We're really looking to presentquite the party, so there'll be
opportunities for folks to gettogether, network and socialize
from 4 pm to about 11 on Tuesdaynight and then some of the
vendors are actually going touse that space on 3rd Street on
Wednesday night for theirhospitality as well.
Francoise von Trapp (20:39):
Okay, well, it sounds like a really good
old Phoenix.
Good time.
Joe Stockunas (20:42):
Absolutely.
Francoise von Trapp (20:43):
People need to pace themselves.
Hydrate people.
This is Phoenix.
Even if it's cooler, it's stilldry.
I cannot stress this enoughHydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
Joe Stockunas (20:54):
I do have a task for you.
I'm a little nervous about thetemperature, and this is where I
cannot stress this enoughHydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
I do have a task for you.
I'm a little nervous about thetemperature, and this is where
you come in.
You're the coolest person inthe semiconductor industry, so
I've got to have you right smackin the center of Third Street.
So just to ensure that if weneed to cool things down a
little bit, it's just yourpresence will take care of that.
So I'm really looking forwardto having you there?
Francoise von Trapp (21:17):
Oh my God, front and center.
Yeah, yeah, I know I'm lookingforward to it.
I've been waiting a long timeto have Semicon West in Phoenix,
so it's going to be great.
Heck, I don't even have to geta hotel room, I'm just going to
Uber in and out every day.
Save on parking and not have toworry about the traffic.
Joe Stockunas (21:33):
You're not going to Waymo.
I'm a little disappointed.
You're not going to Waymo.
I love Waymo.
I love Waymo.
Francoise von Trapp (21:39):
I'm not an early adopter, I'm really not.
Joe Stockunas (21:42):
It's worked great for me.
I've been doing it for the lastyear or so.
Francoise von Trapp (21:45):
I do know that some people prefer Waymo
because they don't have to dealwith creepy drivers.
So there's that, and I hearactually that Waymo has expanded
into other countries and thatthey're having Waymo in Paris
and London.
So maybe it will be time to tryit out, you know.
So I don't know, We'll see.
So we've been talking a lotabout Arizona's chip making boom
, but we haven't talked abouthow Arizona is a hub for
(22:08):
industry talent development.
So you know we've got industryand government and academia all
working together here.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthe workforce development
activities that are going tohappen at Semicon West?
Joe Stockunas (22:22):
So you're absolutely right about Arizona.
We are thrilled to be inArizona.
Semi has been I mentioned alittle bit earlier.
Semi's been selected to operatethe National Network for
Microelectronics Education andwe have a strong team focused on
workforce development in theArizona community already and a
lot going on there.
At the show itself we will havethree days of programming
(22:46):
nonstop, featured on the keynotestage but then a workforce
development pavilion which is ahotbed of activity, and this
year we're really expecting itto be a hotbed because the
community in Arizona is so much.
Arizona State has 32,000engineering students and then of
course Maricopa CommunityCollege and the community
(23:06):
college structure in Phoenix isreally focused on supporting our
industry.
And of course U of A is rightthere as well and there's a
really integrated activitybetween SEMI, the semiconductor
community within Phoenix, andthe advanced education program.
So last year we had about 700students at Semicon West in San
(23:28):
Francisco.
We're in the summer Studentsare away from school Having it
in Phoenix, having it during theschool year time.
We're expecting that 700 togrow to 7,000 this year.
And then we also have a specialfeature I'd like to share with
you too.
It'll be happening and it'll befeatured very prominently
during Semi-West but it'll beoperating for several months,
(23:50):
from September through the endof the year.
At the Arizona Science Museumwe're having a featured exhibit
called SemiQuest and it'llreally provide an opportunity
for younger students students inmiddle school and high school
to get an appreciation of howsemiconductor processing takes
place.
So really excited that againit's not just for three days and
(24:13):
our workplace development focusin Phoenix it never stops.
It's there day in and day out.
Francoise von Trapp (24:18):
I'm excited to hear about SemiQuest because
I think Jillian and I need topay a visit and maybe cover that
for 3D Insights as well, andwe've got some opportunity for
that too.
So it's nice to know that it'sgoing to be there between
September and November.
Joe Stockunas (24:33):
We greatly appreciate you coming by.
So where can people go to learnmore?
Hey, semiconwestorg, it's allthere.
So we've got, as I said, 63sessions of content.
Over 500 speakers can find outhow to register and get a hotel
(24:56):
room Everything you need.
We will also have an app thatyou can load onto your phone and
, when you're at the show, it'llmake it easy for you to get
around and develop your agendafor the three days and get the
very most possible out of awonderful event Really the
premier event in thesemiconductor world in the
(25:16):
United States each year.
Francoise von Trapp (25:17):
So I'm really excited and looking
forward to seeing you, Joe,again at Semicon West.
And yeah, thanks for joining metoday.
Joe Stockunas (25:26):
Francois, I can't say enough about what a great
supporter of SEMI you are and Ireally appreciate being here
with you today and I lookforward to seeing you as our
partner at the show in October.
Thank you.
Francoise von Trapp (25:37):
Thanks so much.
There's lots more to come, sotune in next time to the 3D
Insights podcast.
The 3D Insights podcast is aproduction of 3D Insights LLC.
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