The world's second-largest manufacturer of made-to-order computer chips, United Microelectronics Corp (UMC,
The move may be part of UMC's plan to partner with rising stars in the chip industry, analysts said yesterday.
"Most of UMC's customers specialize in the multimedia market, and UMC is looking to invest in companies with growth potential in this field," said Alfred Ying (
Ending days of speculation, an official at Princeton confirmed the investment plan, but said that the details had yet to be hammered out by board members at both companies.
"UMC already decided to invest in our company, but the [dollar] amount has not been decided yet and won't be until our board of directors meets on June 6 to discuss the issue," spokesperson Terry Tsai (
Chinese-language media speculated yesterday that UMC's CEO and vice chairman John Hsuan (宣明智) might be elected to Princeton's board in June.
An integrated circuit is a silicon chip, or microchip, on which millions of tiny resistors, capacitors and transistors are etched. ICs appear in products as varied as computers, mobile phones and answer machines. Multimedia ICs are used in DVD players and stereo systems to create 3D surround sound and clear, crisp video.
Back in January, UMC chairman Robert Tsao (
"Overall UMC's strategy is to invest in IC design houses in Taiwan and overseas to secure orders," said James Huang, (黃建銘), an analyst at SinoPac Securities Corp (建華證券). Huang warned, however, that there may be a conflict of interest for UMC between independent customers and customers in which UMC invests.
"UMC's priority may be to manufacture for the larger customers during times of tight capacity, which may conflict with the smaller companies it has invested in."
Rumor-laden Chinese-language media reported in January that the wife of the former president of Princeton, Chen Chuan-shu (陳傳書), accused him of keeping two sets of books at Princeton which led to a Bureau of Investigation visit in March to look into "improper accounting practices." Investors bailed out of the stock as a result of the investigation, which may have made the company's stock an attractive bargain for UMC, Huang said yesterday.
UMC remained tight-lipped about the possible investment yesterday.
"I cannot confirm [the plan] at the moment," said UMC spokesperson Alex Hinnawi. "At this point it is just speculation."
UMC shares fell NT$0.6, or 2.8 percent, on the TAIEX yesterday to close at NT$21.1. Princeton's stock fell NT$2, or 3.5 percent, to close at NT$55.5 on the over-the-counter market in Taipei.
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