UMC revises 4Q outlook

These sheets will more than double the chips made from 200mm disks currently. The dinner-plate-sized wafers will cut production costs by about 30 percent, analysts said.

TSMC Vice President Genda Hu (胡正大) said this week at an industry conference in Taiwan the company expects to save 30 percent of costs from 300mm wafers by the middle of 2004.

UMC said its capital spending next year will be lower than the US$1.1 billion budgeted for this year. "We still don't know at which point we should invest in more capacity," Liou said. "We'll watch demand requirements."