Taiwanese fab UMC has made significant new partnerships this week, signaling shifts in the global supply chain after the Biden administration raised the tariffs on Chinese semiconductors by 100%. However, as foreign demand turns to Taiwan, China continues to draw ever more insular with no signs of being wounded.
According to Taiwan's Economic Daily News, UMC started new long-term relationships with Texas Instruments and Infineon this week. UMC is the world's third-largest pure-play semiconductor foundry, falling just shy of China's SMIC and sitting well behind TSMC's commanding lead. UMC also received massive restock orders from MediaTek and Realtek, existing UMC customers sourcing their WiFi 6/6E chips from the fab. The Economic Daily News and TrendForce both believe these new deals signal global trends that will see international business turn increasingly to Taiwan rather than China for chip-making.
