Jalisco is key for the semiconductor industry

Over 50 years, the entity has consolidated its electronics and chip ecosystem, so there are currently eight companies that are part of this industry worldwide and have trusted the state to carry out their operations at different stages of development. the supply chain, such as design, but also validation, assembly and testing.

The companies that have a presence in Jalisco are Bosch, Infineon, SK hynix, NXP Semiconductors, ASE Group, Micron (which in May announced a headquarters in Guadalajara), Intel (which has a “one-of-a-kind” design center) and soon Foxconn, with Nvidia’s state-of-the-art chip assembly plant.

One of the elements that has made Jalisco stand out the most in this industry is the collaboration between the private sector, academia and government, since the general chip design activities are supported by the Research Center for Advanced Studies (Cinvestav) of the National Polytechnic Institute. .

Other local institutions that offer established programs and laboratories around semiconductors and electronics are the Western Institute of Technology and Higher Studies (ITESO), as well as the University of Guadalajara.

For its part, the government enacted the Jalisco Tech Hub Act in 2022, a public policy based on a fund of 2,319 million pesos, focused on the development, reconversion and connection of talent; infrastructure for upper secondary and higher education; incentives; and territorial reserve.

Tonalá, the new headquarters of Nvidia

Pablo Lemus, elected governor of Jalisco, confirmed that the new Foxconn plant will be located in the municipality of Tonalá, a strategic point due to its proximity to the School and Technology Consulting Center, where human talent trained for this type of project can be generated. projects.

According to details reported by the local newspaper, Informador.mx, the plant will be located near the free highway to Zapotlanejo, on a 421,600 square meter plot of land that the company acquired last year.

Regarding installation requirements, these types of plants require highly specialized equipment, such as machines for cutting wafers, assembling chips, hermetic sealing, and infrastructure for testing.

Human talent must also meet educational standards, such as being materials and electronics engineers, in addition to having postgraduate degrees for custom or advanced packaging.

“This will generate in the future, not only in terms of investment and job creation, but in the possibility that Jalisco truly consolidates itself as the main innovation hub in Latin America and that the company has had confidence in our state,” said Enrique Alfaro, current governor of the entity.