UMC looks to advanced technology

TAIWANESE CHIP FOUNDRY UMC has said that it wants to expand its sales of chips from 65nm and more advanced technologies.

UMC's CEO, Shih-Wei Sun told a quarterly investors conference that revenues from 65nm and 40nm to 45nm processes were expected to account for 40 per cent and 3 per cent of the foundry's total wafer sales during the second half of 2010, respectively.

Higher tech 65nm and smaller process chips increased one per cent to 18 per cent of its total revenues in the first quarter of 2010.

This is on a par with UMC's rival TSMC, which saw its 40nm and 65nm technology contribute 41 per cent to its revenues.

Sun estimated that UMC will see sales from its 65nm and below processes account for more than a quarter of sales in the current quarter.

UMC's 40nm logic process has demonstrated steadily higher yields for customers' products, and the company has also moved its 45nm low-power process to mass production, he said.

UMC has also been developing 28nm gate-last, high-k/metal-gate (HK/MG) technology and Sun said that this is making good progress. He wants to pilot production at 28nm by the end of the year.

Meanwhile UMC is talking to punters about buying in advanced 20nm technology. UMC will complete phase-three equipment installation at its 12-inch Fab 12A at the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) in the third quarter.

Production for 65nm and 55nm products at its 12-inch Fab 12i in Singapore will also scale up substantially starting from the second quarter.

Chatting to DigiTimes, Sun predicted that the semiconductor chip foundry market will grow by by 20 to 30 per cent this year. µ