user nl
Active member
UMC is not us so i doubt also this is a recipe for disaster
Perhaps read this story:
https://cwnewsroom.substack.com/p/intel-foundry-gamble-umc-tsmc-taiwan
Why Did Intel Choose UMC?
Why would Intel risk IP leakage by effectively leasing its legacy fabs to a Taiwanese partner?The answer: Intel wants to learn how to build “T-like”processes, and UMC knows how to do it.
“UMC’s greatest value is that it knows how to do T-like,” a former TSMC executive said.
An IC design executive explained that to truly achieve T-like compatibility, the process technology, design rules, and PDKs (process design kits) must closely mirror TSMC’s, without infringing on its patents.Put simply, when customers are unwilling to redesign for Intel’s native process, Intel must adapt its technology to match TSMC’s as closely as possible. That’s the only way to win over customers with minimal friction.
A UMC executive elaborated: “We wait for TSMC products to launch, then reverse-engineer their structure and characteristics. Then we work around the patents so that when customers use our T-like process, they can’t tell the difference. There’s a ton of know-how involved.”
“We’re probably the best in the world at doing T-like,” he added.
That capability has sparked industry speculation that Intel might eventually acquire UMC. “There were a lot of rumors about GlobalFoundries making a move, but the real talks were between UMC and Intel,” said one senior industry insider.
When I asked CFO Chi-Tung Liu whether Intel had considered acquiring UMC, he replied flatly, “Not to my knowledge.”
To be fair, Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan(陳立武), is still in the early stages of a corporate overhaul amid considerable leadership turnover. In such a turbulent period, the future of the UMC partnership, initiated by former CEO Pat Gelsinger, remains uncertain.
A former TSMC fab director put it bluntly: If Intel tries to offer 14A for foundry clients, “they might just burn a pile of money for nothing.”The most pressing question right now is whether Intel still has the will to fully commit to the foundry business.
His reasoning: bleeding-edge foundry customers are highly sophisticated, and time-to-market is critical. “One misstep and everything falls apart.” Intel’s already “several generations behind,” why would any customer take that risk?
This may be the moment when Intel needs to swallow its pride and embrace the T-like approach, giving customers a low-risk way to switch. And for UMC, that could mark a rare opening.
But a UMC executive told me they would never publicly say they’re doing “T-like.” “We say we’re working on mainstream process technologies,” he said, “but in reality, mainstream just means T-like.”