Kilopass and UMC Align for Advanced 28nm IP

SANTA CLARA, CA and HSINCHU, TAIWAN--(Marketwired - May 28, 2013) - Kilopass Technology Inc. (www.kilopass.com), a leading provider of semiconductor logic non-volatile memory (NVM) intellectual property (IP), and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) (NYSE: UMC) (TWSE: 2303) (www.umc.com), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today jointly announced that they have signed a technology development agreement. The agreement calls for Kilopass to port its non volatile memory (NVM) Intellectual property (IP) to two of UMC's leading edge 28nm processes: the High-K Metal Gate 28HPM in high demand by portable device system on chip (SoC) manufacturers and the poly gate 28HLP favored by consumer electronics SoC designers.

UMC's 28nm process delivers twice the gate density of 40nm. Its cost-effective 28HLP Poly/SiON process delivers vastly improved performance and power consumption over other 28nm Poly/SiON industry offerings. The process provides a selection of voltage options to accommodate SoC designers differing power supply needs: 1.8v, 2.5V, and 2.5/ 3.3V. The 28HPM High-k/metal gate process provides options for device voltages, memory bit-cells and underdrive/overdrive capabilities to help SoC designers realize substantial gains in performance and battery life.

"We remain dedicated to advanced technology development and timely capacity deployment to serve our customers' needs," said S.C. Chien, Vice President of Customer Engineering & IP Development & design Support at UMC. "To ensure our customers have access to not only UMC's eFlash, eE2PROM, eMTP, eOTP and eFuse, but also the best third-party non-volatile memory IP at the 28nm node, we are happy to continue our partnership with Kilopass to ensure that their variety of anti-fuse NVM IP offerings is available on our 28nm process family."

"We are extremely pleased with the progress of our on-going strategic initiative with UMC," said Charlie Cheng, president and CEO of Kilopass Technology Inc. "Enablement of our NVM IP offerings on UMC's major 28nm nodes is a win for both companies. It provides an expanded IP portfolio in advanced process nodes that UMC can offer its customers. And it broadens Kilopass' reach into mobile device SoCs and consumer electronics SoCs where UMC's 28nm processes have a growing presence and expanding market share."

About the Partnership
The initial Kilopass-UMC partnership started in 2010 with UMC's 40LP process, which is available now. With customer demand increasing for other technology nodes, both companies decided to be proactive to provide anti-fuse embedded NVM as an off-the-shelf ready product at 130/110/55nm processes, which was accomplished in 2012. This latest agreement expands the relationship into the 28nm process node.

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 robust 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, China, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.

About Kilopass
Kilopass Technology Inc., a leading supplier of embedded NVM intellectual property, leverages standard logic CMOS processes to deliver one-time programmable (OTP) and many-time programmable (MTP) memory. With 58 patents granted or pending and more than 800,000 wafers shipped from a dozen foundries and Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs), Kilopass has more than 150 customers in applications ranging from storage of firmware and security codes to calibration data and other application-critical information. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. For more information, visit www.kilopass.com or email info@kilopass.com. Follow Kilopass on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kilopass_. 

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.