UMC joins IBM chip alliance for 10nm process development

Companies to collaborate on advanced technology

Armonk New York and Hsinchu, Taiwan --June 13, 2013 -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) ("UMC"), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced that UMC will join the IBM Technology Development Alliances as a participant in the group’s development of 10nm CMOS process technology.

“Established over a decade ago, the IBM alliance allows the partners to leverage our combined expertise and collaborative research and innovative technology development to address the demanding needs for advanced semiconductor applications,” said Gary Patton, VP, IBM Semiconductor Research & Development. “UMC is a strong addition to the alliance.”

Po Wen Yen, CEO at UMC, added, “IBM is a recognized leader in fundamental semiconductor technology. We are extremely pleased to work jointly with IBM on advanced fundamentals, and to contribute our many years of experience in developing highly competitive manufacturing technology. Our role as one of the world’s top foundries requires us to introduce leading-edge processes in a timely manner to enable next generation customer chip designs. We look forward to collaborating closely with IBM, leveraging their deep technology expertise to shorten our 10nm and FinFET R&D cycles and create a win-win situation for UMC and our customers.”

The agreements between UMC and IBM expand upon their 2012 agreements concerning prior nodes, including 14nm FinFET. With IBM's support and know-how from this collaboration, UMC will continue to improve its internally developed 14nm FinFET to offer industry competitive low-power technology enhancements for mobile computing and communication products. The parties plan to develop baseline 10nm process technology to meet the needs of UMC customers. UMC will send an engineering team to join the 10nm development work that will take place in in Albany, New York, while UMC’s 14nm FinFET and 10nm implementation will take place at UMC’s Tainan, Taiwan R&D site.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced technology and manufacturing for applications spanning every major sector of the IC industry. UMC’s robust foundry solutions allow chip designers to leverage the company’s leading-edge processes, which include 28nm poly-SiON and gate-last High-K/Metal Gate technology, mixed signal/RFCMOS, and a wide range of specialty technologies. Production is supported through 10 wafer manufacturing facilities that include two advanced 300mm fabs; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i. Fab 12A consists of Phases 1-4 which are in production for customer products down to 28nm. Construction is underway for Phases 5&6, with future plans for Phases 7&8. The company employs over 15,000 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, mainland China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.