United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) said yesterday its board had decided to shut down the company’s foundry business in Japan, as the world’s No. 2 contract chipmaker tries to integrate its resources and cut costs.
The Hsinchu-based chipmaker said UMC Japan, a wholly owned subsidiary based in Tateyama City, Chiba Prefecture, was facing a negative situation in Japan.
“Because of fast changes in global economy and industry trends, the needs of Japanese customers have declined. As the power supply became unstable after the massive earthquake in Japan in 2011, both up and down-stream semiconductor industries have either reduced production or closed factories to cope with the situation,” UMC said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Since the Japanese subsidiary has not been able to effectively reduce its operating costs and its management efficiency remains unsatisfactory, the board decided to dissolve UMC Japan and liquidate all of its assets, according to the filing.
UMC said the move would not disrupt its global services as the company would use its operations in Taiwan and Singapore to meet the needs of Japanese customers.
With a capitalization of ¥81 million (US$1.02 million), UMC Japan operates a 200mm (8-inch) fab with a monthly capacity of 20,000 wafers. As of June 30, the unit had a total assets of ¥16.85 billion and a debt of ¥2.77 billion.
UMC said it would book asset impairment losses in the upcoming quarters, adding that it would sell non-core business units to offset the possible impact the shutdown of UMC Japan might have on the company’s balance sheet.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last