By Wen-Yee Lee
TAIPEI, July 29 (Reuters) – Taiwanese chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) said on Wednesday that its board approved an expansion plan, including additional cleanroom capacity at its Singapore facility and a new fab building at its flagship Tainan campus in Taiwan, to meet growing AI-driven demand.
• “The plan will be executed in phases, enabling UMC to remain ocused on capital discipline while flexibly deploying capacity to fulfill customer demand. As a result, 2026 capital expenditure budget will be revised upward to US$2 billion,” said CEO Jason Wang.
• United Microelectronics focuses on more mature nodes, unlike Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, which is investing big in the most advanced 2 and 1 nanometre technology to power artificial intelligence applications.
• UMC reported second-quarter revenue of T$68.73 billion ($2.12 billion), up 17% from a year earlier, while net income was up 374.7% at T$42.26 billion.
• UMC’s shares have risen 120% so far this year, outperforming a 38.24% gain in the broader market. The stock closed down 9.69% on Wednesday ahead of its earnings release.
($1 = 32.3980 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee, Editing by Louise Heavens)
