The world's third-largest foundry, UMC (Lianghua Electronics), acquires a 9% stake in LCD driver OSAT Chipbond
🟩 The world’s third-largest semiconductor foundry, UMC
Semiconductor foundry UMC has acquired a stake in LCD driver OSAT Chipbond. As a result, the two companies became strategic partners. For mobile and tablets, AR/VR devices are expanding. UMC’s aim is to capitalize on the growth of Chipbond’s display driver business.
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Chipbond is a semiconductor “back-process” company and the world’s 10th largest company in the latest OSAT rankings.
Why does UMC, a “front-of-process” foundry, have a partnership with a manufacturer specializing in “back-processing”?
🟩 Focus on the integration of “Previous Process” and “Post-Process”
Semiconductors have continued to grow in accordance with Moore’s Law by integrating transistors into wafers. As the increase in transistor density wanes, chipmakers are beginning to focus on packaging technology. For this reason, foundry companies are developing their own packaging technologies that integrate “front and back processes”.
TSMC, the world’s largest foundry, has also decided to establish a base in Japan for the development of 3D chips, which is a post-process process.
🟩 Focus on Driver ICs and Compound Semiconductors
UMC deals with a relatively legacy process technology of 0.6um to 22nm processes. We have been working with Chipbond for some time on the post-process of driver ICs. In the future, the two companies aim to integrate front- and post-process process technologies to develop driver ICs for higher frequencies and lower power consumption. The two companies also plan to expand their collaboration to include compound semiconductors such as GaAs, SiC, and GaN for compound semiconductors for power semiconductors and wireless ICs.
🟩Summary
UMC acquires shares in Chipbond to integrate semiconductor front- and post-process processes
UMC does not have advanced processes, but it seems to have adopted a strategy to increase added value by concentrating on specific areas.
