UMC to up production capacity further

TAIPEI: United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) has announced that it is looking to increase its production capacity, and is doing so with the purchase of numerous 12-inch CMOS chip-manufacturing tools. These tools will be bought from Texas Instruments (TI) after TI closes a recently announced deal regarding a larger asset purchase in Japan.

TI has bought two wafer fabs and manufacturing equipment from Spansion Japan, which empowers them with the new capacity to meet growing demand for analog chips. Sources at TI say that a portion of the 300mm tools that come with the acquisition, which are not required by the company, will be re-sold.

Meanwhile sources at UMC say that their association with TI will give them an opportunity to work together to obtain leading-edge 300mm fab equipment at a lower cost and with faster delivery times, compared to placing orders for new equipment.

The financial terms of the said equipment purchase were not released by the company. According to earlier information, UMC has budgeted US$1.2-1.5 billion in capex for 2010, which is a significant jump from the US$551 million allocated last year. Sources say that the company plans to use 94 p.c of the projected capex to expand advanced technology capacity.