UMC Meets Expectations on 28nm Ramp as Demand Slumps

Alan Patterson, EETimes
10/28/2015 02:37 PM EDT

TAIPEI — United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), the world’s second-largest foundry, is meeting its expectations for a slowed ramp of 28nm process technology because of weak demand that’s likely to persist until 2016 while the chip industry recovers from an inventory correction.

Sales of products made with the company’s most advanced technology node dropped to 10% of its NT$35.3 billion ($1.1 billion) in revenue for the third quarter this year from 11% in the second quarter, according to UMC’s announcement of quarterly financial results today.

UMC’s effort to capture a larger slice of the 28nm pie has stalled after larger competitor Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) vowed to protect its market share in the node that has gone unchallenged for nearly five years. UMC said its third-quarter capacity utilization slipped to 89% from 94% in the second quarter.

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