UMC foundry boss quits

CHAIRMAN AND CEO of chip foundry UMC, Jackson Hu has hung up his Etch-a-sketch.

He will be replaced by Stan Hung in the the position of chairman and Shih-Wei Sun as CEO, the firm's board decided today. Hu stays on as a senior advisor.

Dr. Hu said he felt he had accomplished many of his objectives. "The timing is right for a younger and more energetic management team to take over," he said as he endorsed the new executive team.

Hu took over as chairman of the firm in 2006 after the then chairman Robert Tsao fell foul of the Taiwanese government which thought he was passing chip-making expertise to mainlaind China.

Taiwan jealously guards such technology as it hasn't got as many missiles as mainlaind China but likes to think it is independent.

UMC builds advanced system-on-chip (SoC) designs and uses 10 wafer manufacturing facilities including two 300mm fabs one in Taiwan and one in Singapore. µ