United Microelectronics Corporation
Encyclopedia
UMC was founded as Taiwan's first semiconductor
company in 1980 as a spin-off of the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute
(ITRI).
s wafers
for fabless semiconductor companies. In this role, UMC is second only to competitor TSMC
. It has two 300mm fabs, one in Taiwan and one in Singapore.
UMC are listed on the New York Stock Exchange
under the ticker symbol
of UMC, and on the Taiwan Stock Exchange
as 2003. UMC has 10 manufacturing facilities worldwide, employing 10,500 people.
to customers, and to produce chips using 28 nm process technology. It was the first Taiwanese company to offer foundry services and the first semiconductor company to be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange
in 1985.
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
company in 1980 as a spin-off of the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute
Industrial Technology Research Institute
The Industrial Technology Research Institute is a non-profit research institute located in Taiwan under the supervision of the Republic of China Ministry of Economic Affairs. It conducts research and development in applied technologies to advance private sector growth...
(ITRI).
Overview
Today, UMC is best known for its merchant foundry business, manufacturing integrated circuitIntegrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s wafers
Wafer (electronics)
A wafer is a thin slice of semiconductor material, such as a silicon crystal, used in the fabrication of integrated circuits and other microdevices...
for fabless semiconductor companies. In this role, UMC is second only to competitor TSMC
TSMC
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited or TSMC is the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, with its headquarters and main operations located in the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan.-Overview:...
. It has two 300mm fabs, one in Taiwan and one in Singapore.
UMC are listed on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
under the ticker symbol
Ticker symbol
A stock symbol or ticker symbol is a short abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. A stock symbol may consist of letters, numbers or a combination of both. "Ticker symbol" refers to the symbols that were printed on the ticker...
of UMC, and on the Taiwan Stock Exchange
Taiwan Stock Exchange
The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation is a financial institution, located in Taipei 101, in Taipei, Taiwan. The TSEC was established in 1961 and began operating as a stock exchange on 9 February 1962...
as 2003. UMC has 10 manufacturing facilities worldwide, employing 10,500 people.
History
UMC was the first foundry to produce chips on 300 mm wafers, ship wafers using copper materials, to sell 65 nm IC'sIntegrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
to customers, and to produce chips using 28 nm process technology. It was the first Taiwanese company to offer foundry services and the first semiconductor company to be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange
Taiwan Stock Exchange
The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation is a financial institution, located in Taipei 101, in Taipei, Taiwan. The TSEC was established in 1961 and began operating as a stock exchange on 9 February 1962...
in 1985.