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.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has secured three construction permits for its plan to build a state-of-the-art A14 wafer fab in Taichung, and is likely to start construction soon, the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, Wang Chun-chieh (王俊傑), deputy director general of the science park bureau, said the world’s largest contract chipmaker has received three construction permits — one to build a fab to roll out sophisticated chips, another to build a central utility plant to provide water and electricity for the facility and the other to build three office buildings. With the three permits, TSMC
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
RSS