UMC Introduces New 28eHV+ Platform for Wireless, VR/AR, and IoT Display Applications

New solution enhances UMC’s specialty technology leadership; to begin production in 1H 2023

HSINCHU, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) (“UMC”), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today unveiled its 28eHV+ platform, the newest enhancement to its industry-leading 28nm embedded high voltage (eHV) technology. Delivering greater power efficiency and premium visual quality, 28eHV+ is an ideal display driver solution to power next-generation displays used in smartphones, virtual and augmented reality devices, and IoT.

Compared to the proven 28nm eHV process, UMC’s 28eHV+ solution offers up to 15% reduction in power consumption without compromising image quality or data rates, addressing the demand for longer battery life of devices. It also offers optimized features to enable higher accuracy in voltage control and greater flexibility for chip designers.

For eHV technology, 28nm is currently the most advanced foundry process for small-panel display driver ICs (SDDI), used in AMOLED panels increasingly adopted in high-end smartphones and AR/VR devices. UMC is the foundry leader with over 85% of the 28nm SDDI market, having shipped more than 400 million units since volume production began in 2020.

“We are excited to introduce our 28eHV+ platform, which has already gained the interest of several customers and will enter production in the first half of 2023,” said Steven Hsu, UMC’s Vice President of Technology Development. “As a leading provider of specialty foundry technologies, UMC offers differentiated solutions that are aligned with our customers’ roadmaps, enabling them to capture opportunities in fast-growing markets. Following the release of 28eHV+, our development teams will work on extending our display driver solutions to 22nm and beyond.”

UMC’s 28eHV+ technology features the industry’s smallest SRAM bit cells, reducing the chip area. It is based on the Company’s leading 28nm gate-last High-K/Metal Gate technology, which features superior low leakage and dynamic power performance.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry company. The company provides high quality IC fabrication services, focusing on logic and various specialty technologies to serve all major sectors of the electronics industry. UMC’s comprehensive IC processing technologies and manufacturing solutions include Logic/Mixed-Signal, embedded High-Voltage, embedded Non-Volatile-Memory, RFSOI and BCD etc. Most of UMC's 12-in & 8-in fabs with its core R&D are located in Taiwan, with additional ones throughout Asia. UMC has total 12 fabs in production with combined capacity over 850,000 wafers per month (8-in equivalent), and all of them are certified with IATF 16949 automotive quality standard. UMC is headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, plus local offices in United States, Europe, China, Japan, Korea & Singapore, with worldwide total 20,000 employees. For more information, please visit: https://www.umc.com.

Note from UMC Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about introduction of new services and technologies, future outsourcing, competition, wafer capacity, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in UMC’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. UMC does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.