UMC Holds Grand Opening Ceremony for New 12-Inch Wafer Fab in China

United Semi, a joint venture fab in Xiamen, achieves volume production just 20 months after groundbreaking

HSINCHU, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today celebrated the grand opening of United Semi, UMC’s 12-inch joint venture wafer fab in Xiamen China. The state-of-the-art fab, which was completed in record time, realized volume production for customer products merely 20 months after groundbreaking in March of 2015. Pilot production yields for communication ICs at the fab have already exceeded 99% on the company’s 40nm process. Zhuang Jiahan, city mayor of Xiamen, delivered the keynote speech for today’s event.

Po-Wen Yen, CEO of UMC, said “Owing to the tireless teamwork of our suppliers, facilities management and engineering teams, we have realized successive, noteworthy milestones since United Semi broke ground in March, 2015. We achieved cleanroom readiness and equipment move-in within a year, and pilot run verification to mass production in only 8 months. With United Semi being able to leverage UMC’s technology expertise and over 35 years of proven manufacturing experience, we believe this new fab is the best choice for IC designers in China and worldwide who wish to manufacture their products locally in order to serve China’s vast electronics market, while also mitigating geographic risk. We are excited for the future of United Semi as today’s grand opening kicks off the next growth stage for UMC.”

United Semi is a 3-way joint venture foundry company between UMC, Xiamen Municipal People’s Government and Fujian Electronics & Information Group. Its fab, Fab 12X, is southern China’s first 300mm foundry facility. The fab will utilize UMC’s mass production 55nm and 40nm technologies, with a maximum design capacity of 50,000 wafers per month. The main advantage for choosing Xiamen as the fab location is its short distance from Taiwan, allowing seamless support from UMC’s Taiwan headquarters. Furthermore, Xiamen has a well-established infrastructure to supply ample local engineering talent and logistical support. United Semi complements UMC’s Hejian fab in Suzhou, China, which provides 8” foundry services for local and international customers.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced IC production for applications spanning every major sector of the electronics industry. UMC’s robust foundry solutions enable chip designers to leverage the company’s sophisticated technology and manufacturing, which include volume production 28nm gate-last High-K/Metal Gate technology, ultra-low power platform processes specifically engineered for Internet of Things (IoT) applications and the automotive industry’s highest-rated AEC-Q100 Grade-0 manufacturing capabilities for production of ICs found in cars. UMC’s 10 wafer fabs are strategically located throughout Asia and are able to produce over 500,000 wafers per month. The company employs more than 17,000 people worldwide, with offices in Taiwan, mainland China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com

Note from UMC Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about introduction of new services and technologies, future outsourcing, competition, wafer capacity, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in UMC’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. UMC does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161115006891/en/

UMC
Richard Yu, (886) 2-2658-9168 ext. 16951
[email protected]

Source: United Microelectronics Corporation

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