United Microelectronics Corporation Explained

United Microelectronics Corporation
Native Name:	Chinese: 聯華電子
Type:	Public
Traded As:
Founder:	Robert Tsao
Location:	Hsinchu Science Park Hsinchu, Taiwan
Key People:	Stan Hung, Chairman SC Chien, Co-president Jason Wang, Co-president
Num Employees:	19,577 (2020) ^[1]
Industry:	Semiconductor Foundry
Revenue:	billion^[2] ^[3]
Revenue Year:	2020
Operating Income:	billion or  billion
Income Year:	2020
Net Income:	billion or  billion
Net Income Year:	2020

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC;) 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

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.

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

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

History

• 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.
• 2008: Listed as a constituent stock on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the first time.^[7]
• 2010: 30th anniversary of the company.
• 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.^[8]
• 2017: 28 nm mass production begins at USCXM in Xiamen, China.
• 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

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 $400 million USD 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

Semiconductor fabrication plants^{[19] [20]}

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 ->
Fab 12M (USJC, former Fujitsu)	90-40 nm	Mie, Japan	300 mm	33,000

Processes

Revenue Breakdown by Geometry^{[21] [22]}

Geometry	3Q21	3Q20	3Q19	3Q18
14 nm and below	0%	0%	0%	5%
14 nm	19%	14%	12%	13%
28 nm	18%	23%	26%	22%
40 nm	19%	19%	14%	12%
65 nm	8%	10%	12%	10%
90 nm	12%	11%	11%	11%
0.13 um	13%	13%	13%	14%
0.18 um	8%	8%	9%	10%
0.5 um and above	3%	2%	3%	3%

See also

• List of semiconductor fabrication plants
• List of companies of Taiwan
• icDirectory Limited icDirectory Limited is a powerful search engine for Electronic Components.

References

• The Foundation for Taiwan's IC Manufacturing Industry, Jack Chang, 1987
• Manufacturing Miracles: Paths of Industrialization in Latin America and East Asia; Gary Gereffi, Donald L. Wyman; Princeton University Press, 14 juli 2014

External links

• • Yahoo! Finance Profile of UMC
• Reuters Profile
• USJC website
• USJC wikipedia

Notes and References

1. Web site: United Microelectronics: Number of Employees 2006-2020. Macrotrends. 2021-03-11.
2. Web site: Investors Overview - UMC. 2021-07-24. www.umc.com.
3. Web site: 2021-04-29. umc-20f_20201231.htm. 2021-07-25. SEC.
4. Web site: UMC Overview. https://web.archive.org/web/20050319213811/http://www.umc.com.tw/English/about/o_1.asp. 2005-03-19. 2010-06-29. UMC.
5. Web site: Pei-chi . Liang . Chien-chung . Chang . Jung-feng . Chung . Huang . Frances . Major Taiwan chipmakers to assign capacity for car use . focustaiwan.tw . Focus Taiwan . 9 May 2021.
6. Web site: UMC Lists on NYSE.
7. Web site: UMC Selected as DJSI component.
8. Web site: UMC begins construction of 12-inch fab in Xiamen. 2020-11-10. DIGITIMES. en.
9. Web site: UMC Receives Final Approval for 100% Acquisition of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor. September 25, 2019. www.businesswire.com.
10. Web site: UMC Receives Final Approval for 100% Acquisition of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor. subscription. www.bloomberg.com. 2020-08-10. 2019-09-25.
11. Web site: Message from the President | USJC：United Semiconductor Japan Co., Ltd.. 17 December 2018 .
12. Web site: 2020-10-29. UMC and US Department of Justice reach Plea Agreement on Trade Secret Case. 2020-11-09. www.businesswire.com. en.
13. Web site: 2021-06-01. UMC Pledges Net Zero Emissions by 2050.
14. Web site: 2021-11-25. Micron, UMC to withdraw IP complaints against each other.
15. Web site: PRC State-Owned Company, Taiwan Company, and Three Individuals Charged With Economic Espionage. November 1, 2018. www.justice.gov.
16. News: 2019-01-10. China chipmaker Fujian Jinhua pleads not guilty to US theft charges. en. Reuters. 2020-10-31.
17. Web site: Micron, UMC to withdraw IP complaints against each other.
18. Web site: Chinese Chipmaker Cleared in US Criminal Trade Secrets Case.
19. Web site: Q2 2020 Investor Conference Official Material.
20. The number (e.g. 8 or 12) in the fab name reflects on the size of the wafer.
21. Web site: UMC Reports Third Quarter 2021 Results . UMC.
22. Web site: UMC Reports Third Quarter 2019 Results . UMC.