Singapore–United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), of Taiwan, plans to establish a 300mm wafer foundry company in Singapore’s Pasir Ris Wafer Fab Park with an investment of US$3.6 billion. Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG will take a minority stake in the project, and the new company will operate as a subsidiary of UMC.

“UMC is very excited about expanding our operations into Singapore,” says UMC Chairman John Hsuan. “The local government has shown tremendous vision in its commitment to attracting world-leading high technology companies, and we believe that Singapore provides a viable location for wafer foundry services. Following the success of NFI, our joint venture foundry in Japan, the establishment of this company will further diversify our manufacturing operations, enhancing our ability to serve our rapidly growing customer base.”

The fab will be built in two phases, with a total planned capacity of 40,000 wafers per month. The company will focus on system-on-chip (SOC) products using advanced WorldLogic 0.13-micron and 0.10-micron copper/low-k process technologies developed jointly by UMC, Infineon, and IBM. Groundbreaking for the fab is scheduled for Q1 2001, with equipment move-in for the first phase scheduled for Q3 2002.