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.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
RSS