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.