Wafer Prices Rise: UMC, VIS Lead New Hikes

According to reports, The semiconductor industry is entering a new wave of price increases, with the world's four major mature-node wafer foundries—UMC, Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation (VIS), PSMC, and Nexchip—reportedly planning to raise prices as early as April, with hikes reaching 10% or more. Leading IC design companies, particularly those producing driver ICs, are also preparing to adjust their prices in response to rising costs.

Following previous increases in memory and packaging, this latest surge underscores a continuing trend of "chip inflation." Industry experts note that mature-node processes are widely used across consumer electronics, automotive, and industrial sectors, with higher penetration than advanced nodes. Coordinated price adjustments by the four major mature-node foundries are therefore expected to have a significant market impact.

UMC, holding approximately 4.2% of the global wafer foundry market, is a key source of mature-node capacity. While the company has not commented on specific price adjustments, it has previously acknowledged that the current pricing environment is "more favorable than before." VIS has not officially confirmed the price increase, but circulated documents over the weekend indicate the company is seeking customer support to reflect rising costs. The documents cite increased investments in capacity beginning in 2025 to meet client demand, alongside continuous price pressures from semiconductor equipment, raw materials, energy, precious metals, labor, and logistics. VIS stated that to maintain healthy operations and meet future capacity needs, it must share the burden of rising costs with customers, planning to adjust wafer prices starting in April 2026, without specifying the increase.

PSMC has confirmed that it has gradually implemented price increases this quarter, primarily targeting lower-margin product lines. With all four major mature-node foundries signaling price hikes, IC design companies note that wafer costs—which account for a significant share of total IC production expenses—are expected to rise further, likely prompting additional price adjustments downstream.