UMC wins reported SiPh orders
The Taiwanese foundry is reported to have received orders for up to 10,000 wafers as demand for high-speed optical interconnects grows.
United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) has reportedly secured silicon photonics photonic integrated circuit (PIC) orders from optical module manufacturer Innolight and silicon photonics company SILITH, with initial volumes potentially reaching 10,000 wafers, according to market reports.
Production is expected to take place at UMC’s Singapore facility. The reported orders come as demand for high-speed optical interconnects grows alongside AI infrastructure and the transition to 800G, 1.6T and higher-speed optical communications.
The reported PIC products command unit prices around seven times those of conventional CMOS processes, potentially improving UMC’s profitability. However, the company has declined to comment on specific customers or the reported orders.
UMC and SILITH previously announced the delivery of their first batch of 12-inch silicon photonics mass-production wafers from the Singapore facility.
The companies said the transition from development to mass production took 18 months, and the platform had passed validation by a major cloud customer.
UMC is also expanding its silicon photonics manufacturing capacity. Plans include increasing capacity at its Singapore P4 facility and developing new P7 and P8 plants in Taiwan’s Southern Taiwan Science Park.
The company has set a long-term target of 18,000 wafers per month, with equipment installation at the new plants expected to begin in late 2028 and full-scale operations targeted for 2030.
The expansion reflects growing industry interest in silicon photonics as data centres require greater bandwidth and energy-efficient optical connectivity.
UMC’s ability to ramp production and achieve targeted yields will be important to the commercial impact of its investment.
The reported order volume and pricing remain unconfirmed by UMC.
