ONE-TIME COST: The chipmaker predicted zero growth in the foundry sector this year and gave a gloomy first-quarter outlook, as it expects even softer wafer demand

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 30, 2019
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday posted its first quarterly loss in about a decade as a one-time cost of NT$700 million (US$22.72 million) from a suspended DRAM project with China’s Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co (福建晉華) added to weakness in advanced chip demand.

The company has suspended all research and development for Fujian Jinhua and has idled all related equipment at a fab in Tainan, UMC copresident Jason Wang (王石) told an investors’ conference.

Defending against allegations that UMC stole technologies from Micron Technology Inc, Wang said that UMC has 15 years of DRAM manufacturing experience it accumulated from 1996 to 2010, and its DRAM team at one point included more than 150 people.

UMC is to vigorously defend itself against all false charges, Wang added.
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