UMC Wins Major PIC Orders from Innolight and SILITH, Unit Price Seven Times That of Traditional CMOS Processes
UMC has won major PIC orders from global optical module leader Innolight and SILITH, with initial total volume expected to reach 10,000 wafers, to be produced at its Singapore fab, at a unit price seven times that of traditional CMOS processes. In July, UMC and SILITH announced the completion of the first batch of 12-inch silicon photonics mass-production wafer deliveries at the Singapore fab, taking 18 months from development to mass production. UMC plans to expand silicon photonics capacity at its Singapore P4 fab, with a long-term PIC monthly capacity target of 18,000 wafers, expected to begin tool installation at the end of 2028 and reach full scale by 2030.
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UMC Wins Major PIC Orders from Innolight and SILITH; Readers Can Use This to Understand the Silicon Photonics Foundry Capacity Landscape and Unit Price Differences.
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UMC has landed a heavyweight order in optical communications, securing major PIC (photonic integrated circuit) orders from global optical module leader Innolight and from Salira Photonics, an optical engine chip maker backed by Tencent Ventures. Initial volume is expected to reach 10,000 wafers, to be produced at UMC's Singapore fab, with follow-on orders likely. The unit price of the related products is seven times that of conventional CMOS processes, which will significantly boost UMC's profitability.
UMC has become the first among Taiwan's wafer foundries capable of supplying key optical communications chips while also offering volume production and cost advantages, but UMC declined to comment on specific customers or order news.
Industry sources note that PICs are used for optical-to-electrical signal conversion and are key chips in high-speed optical modules. Compared with the CMOS processes that Taiwanese manufacturers excel at, PICs involve optical waveguides, modulators and optoelectronic integration; the process is complex and the yield threshold is high, and only a limited number of wafer foundries worldwide have volume production capability. Currently, related platforms are mainly provided by companies such as Tower Semiconductor and GlobalFoundries.
As optical communications advance toward 800G, 1.6T and even 3.2T specifications, demand for related optical communications chips is growing exponentially, and the capacity of Tower and GlobalFoundries has already been fully booked. UMC is taking orders using mature processes, and with its special processes and cost advantages, it has drawn Innolight and Salira to seek capacity, propelling UMC into the key global supply chain for AI high-speed optical interconnect.
Innolight is the global leader in optical transceiver modules for data centers, with deep roots in the North American cloud service provider (CSP) and AI markets, and is actively expanding 800G and 1.6T high-speed optical modules. Salira focuses on silicon photonics PIC design and has expanded into international markets through Singapore-based SILITH; its 100G-per-channel and 200G-per-channel PICs have cumulatively shipped more than 8 million units, and it is jointly developing 400G-per-channel technology with UMC.
In July, UMC and SILITH announced that the Singapore fab had completed delivery of the first batch of 12-inch silicon photonics volume-production wafers, taking only 18 months from development to mass production, and that the wafers had passed validation by a major cloud customer. Supply chain sources say that, measured by 12-inch PIC commercial volume-production track record, scale and cost advantages, UMC has almost no rival among Taiwan's wafer foundries, which is an important reason why international giants are actively approaching it.
On capacity, UMC has announced an expansion of silicon photonics capacity at its Singapore P4 site and has begun planning new P7 and P8 fabs in the Southern Taiwan Science Park. The long-term PIC monthly capacity target is 18,000 wafers, with equipment installation expected to begin at the end of 2028 and full scale reached in 2030. Market rumors say major customers have already begun discussing follow-on capacity allocations in advance.