UMC push to 14nm may be delayed due to sluggish demand

EE Times reports UMC is meeting expectations for a slowed 28nm rollout due to weak global demand. The sluggish demand is expected to impact the company's 14nm process, the first chips on this process were taped out earlier this year but the foundry anticipates the 14nm node will not contribute significant revenue until the second half of 2017. In the short-term, the focus will be on improving mature nodes to help customers compete in the Internet of Things (IoT) market.

UMC may slow its push toward 14nm as the company is retargeting its first significant revenue contribution from the new node for the second half of 2017.

In July this year, UMC said it aimed to start commercial production of 14nm FinFET products in the first half of 2017. The company has been planning to skip 20nm and target 14nm FinFET as its next technology node to catch up with foundry rivals Samsung and TSMC.

Samsung started making 14nm FinFET chips earlier this year while TSMC entered commercial production of 16nm FinFET products in the third quarter this year.

Two weeks ago, TSMC said its work on upcoming 10nm and 7nm technology nodes is proceeding well. The company will begin technology qualification for 10nm during the fourth quarter this year, and customer tapeouts will start early in 2016.