United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday said that it has no immediate plans to set up a production site in the US amid speculation that the Taiwanese company might come under pressure to invest in the US market.
The comments came after the Chinese-language Mirror Media reported earlier yesterday that with US president-elect Donald Trump set to return to the White House next month, there might be more pressure on UMC, Taiwan’s second-largest contract chipmaker, to invest in the US.
The report cited unnamed industrial sources who said the pressure could arise because the US is the largest semiconductor market in the world and also due to Trump’s tariff threats.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The report also cited an American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Facebook post on Nov. 21 that said AIT Director Raymond Greene had visited UMC.
However, UMC said Greene was making a scheduled visit to the company and did not expand on any details.
UMC said that it has no plans to invest in the US at the moment.
It said it was focusing its resources on its ongoing project with US chipmaker Intel Corp.
In January, UMC and Intel announced that they would develop a 12-nanometer semiconductor process platform.
Production at Intel’s Ocotillo Technology Fabrication site in Arizona is set to begin in 2027.
The AIT said in its Facebook post that Greene met with UMC’s top leadership to discuss the company’s future growth strategies and to exchange views on key industry topics.
The AIT described the Taiwanese chipmaker as “a global leader in mature-node foundry services, which are essential for manufacturing the chips that power our mobile devices, connected cars, industrial equipment and” Internet of Things.
The institute said it recognizes Taiwan’s crucial role in the global semiconductor supply chain and would carry on working to ensure that global supply chains stay secure and resilient.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is investing US$65 billion in Arizona.
TSMC, which dominates the global high-end chip market, is building two advanced wafer fabs and planning another.
According to Taipei-based market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技), UMC was the fourth-largest company in the global pure-play wafer foundry market in the third quarter of this year, following TSMC, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co and China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯).
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