United Microelectronics (UMC), Taiwan’s No.2 foundry, said its Singapore fab has begun volume production of silicon photonics wafers to meet rising hyperscaler and AI data-center demand for high-speed optical interconnects. UMC said it completed platform transfer from R&D to production readiness in 18 months with Singapore fabless SILITH Technology and plans to open a self-developed 12-inch silicon photonics platform to customers for product development by 2027. Citigroup analysts are constructi

United Microelectronics (UMC), Taiwan’s No.2 foundry, said its Singapore fab has begun volume production of silicon photonics wafers to meet rising hyperscaler and AI data-center demand for high-speed optical interconnects. UMC said it completed platform transfer from R&D to production readiness in 18 months with Singapore fabless SILITH Technology and plans to open a self-developed 12-inch silicon photonics platform to customers for product development by 2027. Citigroup analysts are constructive on UMC’s H2 outlook, forecasting Q2 2026 revenue to rise 13% QoQ and gross margin to recover. UMC reported June revenue up 22.85% YoY at NT$23.12 bln (about US$719 mln); H1 revenue rose 11.28% YoY.