The board of semiconductor foundry United Microelectronics Corp. has approved the establishment of a new business development center and a 100% owned subsidiary, UMC New Business Investment Corp., which will focus on solar energy and LED projects. About NT$1.5 billion (US$45 million) will be invested in the new effort, and Wen Yang Chen, senior VP of UMC, will run the center.
UMC believes that its knowledge and technologies are highly applicable to the fundamentals of these two industries; in the short-to-mid term, the Taiwanese company plans to complete the development of related technologies and establish a preliminary scale of operations.
For the long term, as key proficiencies mature and resource integration is complete, the company said it expects the new energy business to become another UMC core business with high competitive advantages.
Foundry rival TSMC announced recently that it intends to allocate around $50 million to invest in the solar PV sector.
