Semiconductor prices are rising again: Foundry plant UMC issues price increase letter, with prices expected to increase by up to 15% in the second half of the year.

According to the Taiwan Business Times, recently, the wafer foundry UMC issued a price increase notice to customers, notifying that wafer prices will be adjusted in the second half of 2026. The company stated that demand in the communication, industrial, consumer electronics, and AI-related fields remains strong, leading to a continuous tightening of the overall product portfolio's corresponding production capacity, which is becoming increasingly tight. In order to support customer demand, the company continues to improve manufacturing efficiency and invest in technology and production capacity to ensure stable and high-quality wafer supply; coupled with the simultaneous increase in raw material, energy, and logistics costs, the company needs to review its price structure. It emphasized that the price increase this time is not simply a cost pass-through, but is based on multiple factors such as "resilient overall demand, tightening production environment, and the company's continuous investment in technology, efficiency improvement, and capacity expansion." UMC did not specify the specific increase, but in response to market rumors of a "10% increase in the second half of the year," the company stated that due to various reasons, prices will indeed be adjusted in the second half of the year, and the increase will vary depending on product mix strategies, production capacity agreements, and long-term cooperative relationships. However, according to the supply chain news, UMC's new prices will apply to wafers produced from July 1st onwards. Based on the estimated wafer production cycle of about three and a half months, some orders placed by customers starting in April have already begun to correspond to the new prices for the second half of the year. The most significant increase is seen in the 8-inch wafer, with an increase of about 10%-15%, adjusted according to customer volume and cooperation conditions; while the 12-inch wafers, mainly at 80nm, 55nm, and 40nm nodes, will see an increase of about 5%-10%, lower than the 8-inch level, and adjusted based on customer volume. Industry analysis shows that this not only indicates UMC's confidence in order intake and production capacity utilization in the second half of the year, but also implies that the pricing trends of mature processes and special processes are continuously heating up with the increasing demand for diverse applications such as AI. It is worth noting that previously, the wafer foundry giant Nexchip Semiconductor Corporation (Nexchip) had issued a "Wafer Foundry Services Price Adjustment Announcement" to customers on March 12, announcing a 10% price increase for wafers produced from 00:00 on June 1st Beijing time. This article is reproduced from "Cai Lian She". Editor: Yan Wencai.