Allegro and UMC Establish Foundry Partnership

WORCESTER, Mass. and HSINCHU, Sept. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Allegro MicroSystems, Inc., a leader in developing, manufacturing and marketing high-performance semiconductors, and United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) ("UMC"), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced a strategic agreement between the two companies for Allegro to utilize UMC for foundry technology and manufacturing. The companies will start production with Allegro's 4th generation 0.6um BCD (ABCD4) commercial product line later this year.

"The agreement between Allegro and UMC is a significant corporate initiative and one that has a direct impact on the strategic growth of our company.  Allegro, as well as our customer base, will realize many benefits as a result of this alignment," said Ravi Vig, VP Business Development at Allegro MicroSystems, Inc.

W.Y. Chen, Chief Operating Officer at UMC, said, "We are pleased to extend UMC's world-leading foundry services to help Allegro strengthen their production base. Our manufacturing leadership and ability to tailor our capacity to meet customer requirements will enhance the competitiveness of leading IC providers such as Allegro. We look forward to serving Allegro's foundry needs and growing this partnership for years to come."

Allegro has finished porting its ABCD4 process to UMC and has entered pilot production. Full production is expected to begin at UMC within the coming months. This wafer process will support its commercial power IC customers. In addition, Allegro is also porting its 6th generation ABCD6 process, with pilot production expected to start in 2013. This process will support both sensor and power IC customers.   

About Allego

Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. is a leader in developing, manufacturing and marketing high-performance semiconductors. Allegro's innovative solutions serve high-growth applications within the automotive market, with additional focus on office automation, industrial, and consumer/communications solutions. Allegro is headquartered in Worcester, Massachusetts (USA) with design, applications, and sales support centers located worldwide. Further information about Allegro can be found at www.allegromicro.com.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced technology and manufacturing for applications spanning every major sector of the IC industry. UMC's customer-driven foundry solutions allow chip designers to leverage the company's leading-edge processes, which include 28nm poly-SiON and gate-last High-K/Metal Gate technology, mixed signal/RFCMOS, and a wide range of specialty technologies. Production is supported through 10 wafer manufacturing facilities that include two advanced 300mm fabs; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i. Fab 12A consists of Phases 1-4 which are in production for customer products down to 28nm. Construction is underway for Phases 5&6, with future plans for Phases 7&8. The company employs over 13,000 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.

Note from UMC Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about future outsourcing, wafer capacity, technologies, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks. Further information concerning these risks is included in UMC's filings with the U.S. SEC, including on Form F-1, F-3, F-6 and 20-F, each as amended.

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