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United Microelectronics Corporation

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"UMC (Company)" redirects here. It can both refer to the Taiwanese company and its American subsidiary, Unicorn Microelectronics Corporation. For other uses, see UMC § Companies and businesses
United Microelectronics Corporation
Native name
聯華電子
Company typePublic
TWSE: 2303
NYSE: UMC
IndustrySemiconductor Foundry
Founded1980; 44 years ago (1980)
FounderRobert Tsao
HeadquartersHsinchu Science Park
Hsinchu, Taiwan
Key people
Stan Hung, Chairman
SC Chien, Co-president
Jason Wang, Co-president
RevenueNT$176.821 billion[1][2] (2020)
NT$22.007 billion or NT$21.931 billion (2020)
NT$27.18 billion or NT$20.852 billion (2020)
Number of employees
Increase 19,577 (2020) [3]
Websiteumc.com
The Singapore factory and offices of United Microelectronics Corporation

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC; Chinese: 聯華電子; pinyin: Liánhuá Diànzǐ) is a Taiwanese company based in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It was founded as Taiwan's first semiconductor company in 1980 as a spin-off of the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).[4]

Overview

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UMC is best known for its semiconductor foundry business, manufacturing integrated circuits wafers for fabless semiconductor companies. In this role, UMC is ranked behind competitor TSMC. It has four 300 mm fabs, one in Taiwan, one in Singapore, one in China, and one in Japan.[4]

UMC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange as 2303. UMC has 12 manufacturing facilities worldwide, employing approximately 19,500 people.[citation needed]

UMC is a significant supplier to the automotive industry.[5]

History

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  • On May 22, 1980, UMC was spun off from the Industrial Technology Research Institute and was formally established as the first private integrated circuit company in Taiwan.
  • 1983: TMC starts a joint research project with US-based Vitelic.
  • 1985
    • UMC was officially listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (code: 2303). It was the first listed semiconductor company in Taiwan. At that time, Morris Chang was its chairman.
    • UMC sets up a subsidiary, Unicorn Microelectronics Corporation (also abbreviated UMC), in Silicon Valley to improve access to technology, signing joint research agreements with Mosel (later Mosel Vitelic) and Quasel.
  • 1995: UMC decided to transform from an IDM company with its own products to a professional pure-play foundry.
  • 1996: Spun off its IC design units to establish MediaTek, Novatek, ITE Technology, Faraday Technology, AMIC Technology, and Davicom.
  • 1999: Fab 12A 12-inch wafer fab in Tainan Science Park was officially established.
  • 2000:
    • Listed on the New York Stock Exchange (code: UMC) as Taiwan's second semiconductor company to do so.[6]
    • Produces the first chips using copper process technology and the first 0.13 micron ICs in the semiconductor industry.
  • 2004: 12-inch wafer fab in Singapore enters mass production.
  • 2013: Fully acquires "Hejian Technology Wafer Fab" in Suzhou, China.
  • 2015: USCXM 12-inch wafer fab located in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China was officially established.[7]
  • 2017: 28 nm mass production begins at USCXM in Xiamen, China.
  • July 2017: UMC invested US$611 million to expand its Xiamen factory.[8]: 74 
  • 2019: Fully acquired Japan-based Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor.[9][10][11]
  • 2020: Reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve a 2018 trade secrets case.[12]
  • 2021: Joins RE100 and pledges net zero emissions by 2025.[13]
  • 2021: UMC and Micron announced globally to withdraw their complaints against the other party, and the companies look forward to engaging in mutual business cooperation opportunities.[14]

U.S. Indictment and guilty plea

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The United States Department of Justice indicted UMC and Chinese firm Fujian Jinhua in 2018, alleging that they conspired to steal intellectual property from U.S. company Micron.[15][16] In October 2020, UMC and the U.S. Department of Justice reached a plea agreement, with UMC pleading guilty to one count of receiving and possessing a stolen trade secret and agreeing to pay a fine of $60 million. UMC's plea and Plea Agreement resolved the 2018 trade secrets case brought against UMC by the U.S. Department of Justice. As part of the Plea Agreement, DOJ agreed to dismiss the original indictment against UMC, including allegations of conspiracy to commit economic espionage and conspiracy to steal multiple trade secrets from Micron Technology, Inc. (“Micron”), patent-related allegations, and alleged damages and penalties of US$400 million to $8.75 billion. The one trade secret at issue in the guilty plea and Plea Agreement related to older technology that had been in mass production worldwide for several years. DOJ also dismissed a related civil case against UMC. Aside from the fine amount, UMC has no further financial obligations to DOJ. The Plea Agreement also provides that UMC will cooperate with DOJ and will be subject to a three-year term of non-supervised probation.[12]

In November 2021, UMC and Micron agreed to withdraw complaints against each other globally following a years-long legal dispute over intellectual property rights (IP). UMC will make an undisclosed one-time payment to Micron Technology. Both parties also announced their intention to seek mutual business cooperation opportunities in the future.[17]

In February 2024, US District Judge Maxine M. Chesney in San Francisco ruled that the US prosecutors failed to prove that Chinese firm, Fujian Jinhua had misappropriated trade secrets from Micron Technology Inc. Therefore, the Court found Jinhua not guilty.[18]

Fab list

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Semiconductor fabrication plants[19][failed verification][note 1]
Fab Node Location Wafer diameter Wafers per month
WKT 450–350 nm Hsinchu, Taiwan 150 mm 31,000
Fab 8A 500–250 nm Hsinchu, Taiwan 200 mm 67,000
Fab 8C 350–110 nm Hsinchu, Taiwan 200 mm 37,000
Fab 8D 130–90 nm Hsinchu, Taiwan 200 mm 31,000
Fab 8E 500–180 nm Hsinchu, Taiwan 200 mm 37,000
Fab 8F 180–150 nm Hsinchu, Taiwan 200 mm 40,000
Fab 8S 180–110 nm Hsinchu, Taiwan 200 mm 31,000
Fab 8N (He Jian) 500–110 nm Suzhou, China 200 mm 76,000
Fab 12A 130–14 nm Tainan, Taiwan 300 mm 87,000
Fab 12i 130–40 nm Singapore 300 mm 53,000
Fab 12X (United Semiconductor) 40–28 nm Xiamen, China 300 mm 19,000 → 25,000 (2021)
Fab 12M (USJC, former Fujitsu) 90–40 nm Mie, Japan 300 mm 33,000

Processes

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Revenue breakdown by geometry[20][21]
Geometry 3Q21 3Q20 3Q19 3Q18
≤14 nm 0% 0% 0% 5%
14 nm < x ≤ 28 nm 19% 14% 12% 13%
28 nm < x ≤ 40 nm 18% 23% 26% 22%
40 nm < x ≤ 65 nm 19% 19% 14% 12%
65 nm < x ≤ 90 nm 8% 10% 12% 10%
90 nm < x ≤ 0.13 μm 12% 11% 11% 11%
0.13 μm < x ≤ 0.18 μm 13% 13% 13% 14%
0.18 μm < x ≤ 0.35 μm 8% 8% 9% 10%
≥0.5 μm 3% 2% 3% 3%

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The number (e.g. 8 or 12) in the fab name reflects on the size of the wafer.

References

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  1. ^ "Investors Overview - UMC". www.umc.com. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  2. ^ "umc-20f_20201231.htm". SEC. 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  3. ^ "United Microelectronics: Number of Employees 2006-2020". Macrotrends. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  4. ^ a b "UMC Overview". UMC. Archived from the original on 2005-03-19. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  5. ^ Pei-chi, Liang; Chien-chung, Chang; Jung-feng, Chung; Huang, Frances. "Major Taiwan chipmakers to assign capacity for car use". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  6. ^ "UMC Lists on NYSE".
  7. ^ "UMC begins construction of 12-inch fab in Xiamen". DIGITIMES. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  8. ^ Xin, Qiang (2024). "Selective Engagement: Mainland China's Dual-Track Taiwan Policy". In Zhao, Suisheng (ed.). The Taiwan Question in Xi Jinping's Era: Beijing's Evolving Taiwan Policy and Taiwan's Internal and External Dynamics. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781032861661.
  9. ^ "UMC Receives Final Approval for 100% Acquisition of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor". www.businesswire.com. September 25, 2019.
  10. ^ "UMC Receives Final Approval for 100% Acquisition of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor". www.bloomberg.com. 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  11. ^ "Message from the President | USJC：United Semiconductor Japan Co., Ltd". 17 December 2018.
  12. ^ a b "UMC and US Department of Justice reach Plea Agreement on Trade Secret Case". www.businesswire.com. 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  13. ^ "UMC Pledges Net Zero Emissions by 2050". 2021-06-01.
  14. ^ "Micron, UMC to withdraw IP complaints against each other". 2021-11-25.
  15. ^ "PRC State-Owned Company, Taiwan Company, and Three Individuals Charged With Economic Espionage". www.justice.gov. November 1, 2018.
  16. ^ "China chipmaker Fujian Jinhua pleads not guilty to US theft charges". Reuters. 2019-01-10. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  17. ^ "Micron, UMC to withdraw IP complaints against each other".
  18. ^ "Chinese Chipmaker Cleared in US Criminal Trade Secrets Case".
  19. ^ "Q2 2020 Investor Conference Official Material" (PDF).
  20. ^ "UMC Reports Third Quarter 2021 Results" (PDF). UMC.
  21. ^ "UMC Reports Third Quarter 2019 Results" (PDF). UMC.
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