A commercial building lights up at dusk on Monday, February 2, 2026 in Singapore. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Taiwan’s second largest contract chip manufacturer, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) on Tuesday unveiled its first mass-produced silicon photonics wafer manufactured within its Singapore facility.
UMC aims to address the growing demand for high-speed optical interconnects in AI and hyperscalar data center networks.
UMC said in a statement that in collaboration with local fabless chip design firm SILITH Technology, the joint team completed the silicon photonics platform from development to production readiness in 18 months, securing the technology to support next-generation AI infrastructure.
UMC also plans to make its proprietary 12-inch silicon photonics platform available for customer product development by 2027.
The move comes after Citi analysts said they expect the company’s outlook to improve in the second half of this year, with revenue increasing 13% from the previous quarter and gross profit rebounding in the second quarter of 2026.
Confirming Wall Street’s optimism, UMC recently reported strong financial performance, with June sales increasing 22.85% year-on-year to NT$23.12 billion ($719.21 million), and first-half cumulative sales increasing 11.28%.
However, the company’s shares fell nearly 5% in Taiwan during Tuesday trading, and were trading 1.6% lower after paring losses.
UMC is part of a broader wave of Taiwanese high-tech companies expanding their manufacturing footprint in Singapore as the country grows as a major regional hub for the global semiconductor supply chain.
This growing ecosystem includes: Kingen Electronics Co., Ltd. TSMC-backed chipmaker Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation also recently partnered with Netherlands-based TSMC. NXP Semiconductors A $7.8 billion manufacturing plant will be built in the city state.
Silicon photonics is an essential technology for transmitting and processing data at ultra-high speeds, and its market is experiencing significant growth due to increased data traffic and demand for faster optical communications, with its global size reaching an estimated $3.71 billion in 2026, according to data from Polaris Market Research.
