Taiwan’s 2nd-largest chipmaker begins mass producing silicon photonics wafers in Singapore

Taiwan’s United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) said Tuesday that it has begun mass producing silicon photonics wafers at its manufacturing facility in Singapore.

The company, Taiwan’s second-largest contract chipmaker, said the technology is designed to meet rising demand for high-speed optical interconnections used in artificial intelligence infrastructure and hyperscale data center networks.

UMC developed the silicon photonics platform in cooperation with Singapore-based fabless chip designer SILITH Technology, bringing it from development to production readiness within 18 months.

The chipmaker also plans to make its own 12-inch silicon photonics platform available to customers for product development by 2027.

Silicon photonics integrates optical components with semiconductor manufacturing processes, allowing large volumes of data to be transmitted at high speeds while reducing power consumption.

Demand for the technology has increased as AI systems and data centers require faster communication between processors, memory units, and networking equipment.

UMC reported revenue of 23.12 billion New Taiwan dollars ($719 million) in June, an increase of 22.9% from a year earlier. Its cumulative revenue in the first half of 2026 rose 11.3% year-on-year.

The company’s shares fell nearly 5% in Taiwan trading on Tuesday before trimming their losses.

UMC joins a growing number of Taiwanese semiconductor companies expanding manufacturing operations in Singapore, which has sought to strengthen its position in the global chip supply chain.

Taiwan’s Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp., backed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., is also developing a $7.8 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant in Singapore with Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors.