UMC Singapore Fab CPO Mass Production by 2027

Taiwanese media reports that wafer foundry giant UMC is actively advancing its mature process upgrades while positioning itself in the Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) field, aiming for mass production by 2027. Investors responded positively, sending UMC's U.S. ADR soaring nearly 16% on January 20.

In recent years, UMC has focused on increasing the value of its mature nodes, turning its 22/28nm processes into more competitive specialized applications. Market sources highlight that UMC's Singapore Fab 12i P3 plays a central role in this strategy. The fab not only centers on 22/28nm processes to support communications, automotive, IoT, and AI applications but also strengthens UMC's footprint in CPO development.

The fab's 22nm line is reportedly already capable of supporting silicon photonics products, a cornerstone of the company's advanced process roadmap. UMC confirmed that silicon photonics is a key focus of its specialized process expansion. Internally, the fab has also planned for optoelectronic integrated modules, aiming to begin risk production in 2026 and achieve full-scale mass production by 2027.

To accelerate development, UMC has pursued strategic collaborations. The company recently signed a technology licensing agreement with imec, Belgium's leading semiconductor research center, adopting the validated iSiPP300 silicon photonics platform.

UMC's push into this area addresses the physical limits of traditional electronic signal transmission. Industry analysts note that as AI workloads increase, copper interconnects face bandwidth and energy efficiency bottlenecks. CPO technology, which co-packages optical engines with compute chips, significantly reduces signal travel distance. Compared with conventional pluggable optical modules, CPO lowers power consumption and latency, reduces dependence on high-power DSPs and long copper traces, and increases bandwidth density—meeting the rising demand for ultra-high-speed data transfer in modern data centers.