Cypress outsources to UMC

Cypress Semiconductor Corp of the US said yesterday it had chosen United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world's second-largest contract microchip manufacturer, to be among its primary foundry partners for its new static random access memory (SRAM) products.

UMC's processes will be used for the products, Cypress said in a statement.

Cypress it is the first time it has chosen a foreign foundry for manufacturing its flagship SRAM products.

It said Cypress expects to "tape out [finish] its first 65-nanometer SRAM product" at UMC in the fourth quarter of this year.

Besides SRAMs, Cypress said it also intends to use UMC for the foundry manufacturing of its S8TM 0.13-micron embedded flash technology and two future generations of embedded flash technology to produce an array of new Cypress products.

The initiative allows Cypress to meet rapid swings in customer demand without the burden of high fixed costs, the statement said.

"UMC's advanced technology will allow Cypress to maintain its leadership position without having to shoulder the entire burden of advanced research and equipment," Shahin Sharifzadeh, executive vice president of Wafer Fab and Technology at Cypress, said in the statement.