UMC's acquisition of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor apparently has fulfilled two of its major strategic purposes: to expand its presence in the Japanese maket and the niche market. Through the wholly-owned Japanese subsidiary, now renamed United Semiconductor Japan (USJC), the Taiwan-based foundry house...

Global makers of CMOS image sensors (CIS) are expected to embrace explosive demand for higher-specs CIS devices for application to autonomous vehicles in addition to handsets, which in turn will provide more opportunities for Taiwan-based backend firms, according to industry sources.

United Microelectronics (UMC), through its takeover of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor (MIFS), has entered the supply chain for Sony's CMOS image sensors, according to industry sources.

Global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales will drop 10.5% to US$57.6 billion in 2019 from last year's historic peak of US$64.4 billion but stage a 2020 recovery and set a new high in 2021, according to SEMI.

Pure-play compound semiconductor wafer foundry Global Communication Semiconductors (GCS) has enhanced its strategic partnership with Epistar by investing in Epistar's China-based foundry subsidiary Episky.

The world's top pure-play foundry is set to wrap up 2019 with strong sales performances, thanks to impressive contributions from advanced manufacturring processes. TSMC is also on course to enter commerical production in first-half 2019...

Robust orders for 5G smartphone application processors from the world's major Android phone vendors will allow backend house ASE Technology Holding to enjoy a particularly strong first quarter of 2020, according to industry sources.

TSMC is poised to post revenue growth of up to 5% on year in 2019, with sales for the fourth quarter set to meet its guidance range, according to market observers.

With capital expenses by semiconductor firms in Taiwan and China set to regain expansion momentum in 2020, equipment supply chain players are expected to see a bright year for their operations in 2020, according to industry sources.

Taiwan's CMOS image sensor (CIS) packaging specialists including Kingpak Technology, Xintec,VisEra Technologies and Tong Hsing Electronic Industries are expected to benefit significantly from Sony's move to expand CIS capacity and launch smart CIS devices in 2020 to meet increasing demand for 5G, AI...

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) saw its November revenues increase 1.7% sequentially, while revenues at United Microelectronics (UMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) slid 4.8% and 7.6%, respectively.

Taiwan's exports totaled US$28.58 billion in value in November 2019, dropping 1.4% sequentially but rising 3.3% on year, while the corresponding imports reached total value of US$24.30 billion, slipping 2.9% sequentially but growing 5.8% on year, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

TSMC has obtained orders for CMOS image sensors from Sony, and will fabricate the chips using 40nm process technology at Fab 14A in Tainan, southern Taiwan, according to a recent Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

Acquiring Panasonic's loss-making semiconductor business will have a negative impact on Nuvoton Technology's profitability in the short term, and it may take time for the business to turn profitable, according to Arthur Chiao, chairman for Nuvoton and Winbond Electronics.

Although the memory market looks to be heading towards a recovery in 2020, suppliers are cautious about expanding supply. Winbond is building a new plant in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, with completion originally slated for year-end 2020 and commerical production for 2021. But now the company has now...

TSMC has been fast advancing its manufacturing processes. It is on track to move 5nm node to commercial production in the second half of 2020, and will soon break ground for a 3nm facility where volume production will start in 2022. Next...

The market for packaging materials for 5G mmWave transmission modules is set to heat up in 2020, with LTCC (low temperature co-fired ceramic) likely to replace LCP (liquid crystal polymer) as the mainstream material, according to industry sources.

MediaTek and Realtek Semiconductors are both gearing up to ramp up their output of Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) chips in 2020, according to sources at IC testing solutions providers.

Despite the ongoing US-China trade tensions, Taiwan's IC packaging and testing industry is still expected to see second-half 2019 revenues grow from the first half thanks to rising demand for 5G-related applications, according to Digitimes Research.

Taiwan-based silicon wafer suppliers and fab toolmakers, particularly those in the supply chain of TSMC, have enjoyed a ramp-up in orders recently and become optimistic about their sales outlook for 2020.

TSMC uses its N7, the foundry's 7nm process without EUV, to fabricate Qualcomm's latest flagship processor, Snapdragon 865 series. Nevertheless, its Snapdragon 765 chips are being manufactured using Samsung's EUV-based 7nm process technology.

TSMC is firmly on track to move 5nm process technology to commercial production in the first half of 2020 and will kick off production of chips built using a newer 3nm process node in 2022, according to JK Wang, the firm's senior vice president for fab operations.

With revenues plunging by 14.7% in the third quarter, the global semiconductor market appears destined for a year of double-digit decline despite some signs of growth in the critical memory segment, according to IHS Markit.

Qualcomm has introduced its new 5G SoC lineup - the Snapdragon 865 series for smartphone vendors' flagship models and the 765 series for midrange to high-end ones. But it is the midrange smartphone market segment that is expected to see...

More Taiwan-based IC design houses are moving to strengthen partnerships with foundries in China so as to land more orders from Chinese brand vendors seeking to cut reliance on US supplies of key semiconductor components, according to industry sources.