Taiwanese foundries slog it out over 12-inch fabs

Responding to news earlier this year that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) will build a 12-inch wafer fab, its competitor United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) said it would as well. According to reports in the Taiwanese press, UMC will spend an estimated $3 million to build the plant. The fab will be located in Tainan and be largely complete by the end of next year. It will support .13 micron process technology, UMC said. UMC is second in place to TSMC in terms of foundry market share. ®