Foreign media reports that U.S. chip giant Intel has entered into deep cooperation with Taiwan's second-largest wafer foundry, UMC. Following their 12nm collaboration, the two parties will further jointly develop advanced 3nm chip manufacturing technology, directly challenging TSMC's dominant position in the foundry market. For UMC, the core advantage of this cooperation is the ability to avoid huge semiconductor equipment capital expenditures while smoothly entering the most cutting-edge chip manufacturing field.
Citing a report from FundaAI, tech media WCCFTech noted that under CEO Chen Liwu, Intel is actively expanding its chip foundry business and competing with TSMC. Market attention on Taiwan's wafer foundry industry has historically focused on TSMC, but UMC, as Taiwan's first chip foundry, has long played a key role in mature process nodes, with products widely used in industrial and other diverse fields.
The latest report shows that the cooperation between the two parties has extended from mature processes to the most advanced technology. They are currently using 12nm and 3nm process technologies to produce chips, with related products expected to be manufactured at Intel's fab in Arizona, USA.
For the advanced 3nm process, both parties plan to follow the model of the previous 12nm agreement, allowing UMC to enter the market without active investment in equipment. The core goal of this plan is to create products comparable to TSMC's 3nm, which is expected to significantly enhance Intel's competitiveness and market share in the global wafer foundry market.
As for the original 12nm process cooperation, progress is very rapid. The technology targets terminal applications mainly in the IoT industry and WiFi fields.
The report indicates that the 12nm plan is expected to deliver the process design kit (PDK) to customers within 2026. According to the current schedule, it will assist customers in tape-out by early 2027, with the goal of entering mass production by the end of 2027.
With the 12nm timeline clear and 3nm cooperation emerging, the alliance between Intel and UMC is introducing new variables into the global semiconductor foundry landscape.
