Taiwanese chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) said on Thursday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Polar Semiconductor to explore cooperation in the production of 8-inch wafers in the United States.
UMC said in a statement that the two parties will determine the product categories to be produced at Ball Semiconductor's recently expanded 8-inch wafer fab in Minnesota to meet the needs of industries such as automotive, data center, consumer electronics, aerospace and defense.
As Taiwan's second largest wafer foundry after TSMC, UMC's wafer fabs are mainly concentrated in Taiwan, with production bases only in Japan and Singapore. This cooperation with Ball Semiconductor to explore U.S. production is an important step in its expansion of overseas production capacity. It will further improve its global production network and reduce its dependence on a single region.
In the context of the current changes in the geopolitical landscape, cooperation between the two parties will help improve the local manufacturing capabilities of 8-inch wafers in the United States and reduce reliance on chip production capacity in a single region. At the same time, cooperation can also provide customers with multi-channel procurement options and help customers improve multi-source supply strategies, thereby enhancing the risk resistance of the entire chip supply chain.
The automotive, data center, consumer electronics, aerospace and defense industries will directly benefit, as the expanded 8-inch wafer production capacity can meet the needs of these industries for related chips and alleviate supply chain tensions.
The two parties stated that this cooperation combines Ball Semiconductor's U.S. manufacturing capabilities with UMC's 8-inch technology portfolio and global customer base, and is expected to support customers' multi-sourcing strategies.
They added that the cooperation will help enhance the United States' 8-inch wafer manufacturing capabilities and enhance the resilience of the supply chain amid the changing geopolitical landscape.
"This collaboration is consistent with Ball Semiconductor's strategy to meet growing demand for local manufacturing," said Ken Obuszewski, Ball Semiconductor's vice president of marketing.
Oliver Chang, senior vice president of global sales at UMC, added: "This collaboration is a direct response to customer demand for more American-made chips."
As the second largest wafer foundry in Taiwan after TSMC, most of UMC's wafer fabs are located in Taiwan and it also has production facilities in Japan and Singapore.