UMC’s Singapore wafer fab delivers first batch of mass-produced silicon photonics wafers

Golden Ten Data reported on July 14 that United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), Taiwan’s second-largest foundry, announced on Tuesday that the company has achieved its first mass production of silicon photonics wafers at its Singapore facility. UMC indicated that this move aims to meet the growing demand for high-speed optical interconnects in AI and hyperscale cloud service provider data centers. The company stated that, in cooperation with Singapore fabless chip design firm SILITH Technology, it completed the transition from R&D to mass production readiness for the silicon photonics platform within just 18 months, providing technological support for the next generation of AI infrastructure. UMC also plans to make its independently developed 12-inch silicon photonics platform available to customers for product development before 2027. According to analysts at Citigroup, the outlook for UMC’s operations in the second half of this year is positive, projecting a 13% quarter-on-quarter increase in sales for the second quarter of 2026, with gross margin also returning to growth. UMC’s sales in June increased by 22.85% year-on-year to 23.12 billion New Taiwan dollars (approximately $719.2 million); cumulative sales for the first half of the year rose 11.28% year-on-year.