UMC Works to Boost Its Wafer-Foundry Profile Overseas
March 6, 2000 (TAIPEI) -- United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) is set to team up with U.S. and Japanese partners to develop state-of-the-art technologies for its wafer lines.
It also will work to raise its wafer-foundry profile in the Japanese market.
These goals are part of UMC's efforts to fortify itself against its arch-rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC). F.T. Liu, a senior UMC executive, believed that in the next few years the strategy would enable his company to expand its capacity by over 30 percent a year, and improve its profitability by over 40 percent a year. UMC also plans to upgrade its wafer-manufacturing skills beyond the capabilities of integrated device manufacturers (IDMs).
The local chip-making powerhouse announced early this year technological partnerships with IBM Corp. and Germany's Infineon Technologies AG , to develop mutually-compatible technical platforms as a springboard for the three companies to expand their presence in the global system-on-a-chip market.
UMC is also exploring partnership opportunities with a number of U.S.-based IC-designing companies, to exploit the soaring demand for wafer-foundry services from Japan and Europe.
In a successful effort to gain a foothold in Japan's microelectronics market, UMC has taken over NPNX, a Japan-based semiconductor manufacturer, and renamed it Nippon Foundry Inc. UMC has also joined Hitachi Ltd. in a 12-inch wafer fab venture.
"Orders from Japan have increased by over 10 percent recently," Liu said. "Japan IDMs are willing to contract out more OEM orders to our company, which enables us to improve our market share there."
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