“If [UMC] can come out with 0.18-micron in the first or second quarter of 1999, then they'll be right up there with Intel,” said Joanne Itow, a foundry analyst at Semico Research Corp., Phoenix.
Wafers processed on a 0.18-micron geometry will represent approximately 10% of the 1.8 million 8-in. wafers UMC plans to produce next year, according to Jim Kopec, president of UMC Group (USA), Sunnyvale, Calif.
The first wafers manufactured on the 0.18-micron process will be at UMC's fab in Hsinchu, Taiwan, which is capable of 40,000 wafer starts per month. Full production volumes will be achieved by the second half of the year, the company said. UMC's 0.25-micron process, meanwhile, will represent about 25% of its 1999 wafer output.
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