The global semiconductor shortage is expected to last until 2023 as the COVID-19 pandemic boosts demand for chips for automobiles and smart home devices, United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) copresident Chien Shan-chieh (簡山傑) said yesterday.
Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting in Hsinchu, Chien said that while the COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse impact on the global economy, digital transformation has accelerated growth in the semiconductor industry.
Chip supply would fall short of demand and only worsen in the short term, with a shortage of 8-inch and 12-inch wafers set to be the most severe, Chien said.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
As demand continues to soar, the global chip shortage is likely to last beyond next year until 2023, he said.
To solve the problem, the key is to increase capacity, Chien said, but added that even with chipmakers investing in fabs to expand capacity, it would take until 2023 for more chips to be produced.
UMC’s revenue grew 26 percent in US dollar terms last year, while its operating income surged to NT$22.01 billion (US$786.27 million), reflecting solid utilization rates across both 8-inch and 12-inch facilities, and optimization of the company’s blended product mix, he said.
Of particular note has been the company’s enhanced 12-inch product mix, which is primarily a result of the substantial pickup in the 28-nanometer wafer business, as well as the successful integration of 12-inch operations at its Japanese subsidiary United Semiconductor Japan Co, he added.
Shareholders of UMC, the world’s third-largest contract chipmaker, yesterday during the online meeting approved a plan to distribute a NT$1.6 cash dividend.
The company last year posted consolidated revenue of NT$176.82 billion, or earnings per share of NT$2.42, up 19.3 percent year-on-year.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
Intel Corp is joining Elon Musk’s long-shot effort to develop semiconductors for Tesla Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp and xAI, marking a surprising twist in the chipmaker’s comeback bid. Intel would help the Terafab project “refactor” the technology in a chip factory, the company said on Tuesday in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform. That is a stage in the development process that typically helps make chips more powerful or reliable. The chipmaker’s shares jumped 4.2 percent to US$52.91 in New York trading on Tuesday. The Terafab project is a grand plan by Musk to eventually manufacture his own chips for
RSS