1934 Act Registration No. 1-15128
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Dated July 15, 2003
United Microelectronics Corporation
(Translation of Registrant's Name into English)
No. 3 Li Hsin Road II
Science-Based Industrial Park
Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C.
(Address of Principal Executive Office)
(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover of form 20-F or Form 40-F.)
Form 20-F X Form 40-F
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(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the
information contained in this form is also thereby furnishing the information to
the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.)
Yes No X
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(If "Yes" is marked, indicated below the file number assigned to the registrant
in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): Not applicable )
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This current report on Form 6-K is hereby incorporated by reference into our
Registration Statement on Form F-3 filed with the Commission on January 2, 2002,
as amended (File No.333-14256).
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
United Microelectronics Corporation
Date: Jul 15, 2003 By: /s/ Stan Hung
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Stan Hung
Chief Financial Officer
UMC Appoints Dr. Jackson Hu to CEO
25-year IC design veteran is committed to enhancing the customer-orientation
of UMC's industry-leading foundry services
Hsinchu, Taiwan, July 15, 2003--UMC (NYSE: UMC) today announced the appointment
of Dr. Jackson Hu to the position of Chief Executive Officer. The announcement
is based on Dr. Hu's acceptance today of this board appointment. Dr. Hu's
appointment is seen as further affirmation of UMC's commitment to enhancing the
customer-orientation of its foundry services due to his extensive career in the
fabless semiconductor industry prior to joining UMC early in 2003.
UMC Chairman Robert Tsao commented on the appointment, "In the past, we had a
tendency to think of foundry services from our perspective as process technology
and manufacturing specialists. Although, leadership in process technology is
central to our success, we have been steadily increasing our focus on
complimentary services and solutions that enable our customers to take advantage
of our technology. Jackson's years as an influential member of the fabless
design community have equipped him with an intimate understanding of customer
needs. In the short time that he has been with UMC, his understanding of their
design and business requirements has enabled us to better tailor our foundry
services to enhance customer success. In the years to come, we will leverage his
experience to ensure that UMC remains the foundry of choice for the best
companies in the IC design world."
Dr. Hu joined UMC at the beginning of 2003 as the president of the New Business
Development Group and head of the Design Support division. He is a 25-year
veteran of the high-tech industry, and prior to UMC served as president and CEO
of SiRF Technology, a fabless communications IC and IP (intellectual property)
company focusing on location technology based on Global Positioning Systems
(GPS). During his long career, Dr. Hu has served in a number of influential
industry positions, including senior vice president and general manager of S3.
During his time at S3, he helped grow the company into an industry leader with
35 percent market share of the graphics processor business. Hu's other
significant accomplishments include co-founding IC Ensemble, a fabless IC
company that focuses on audio controller products, which was acquired by Via
Technology in 2000. He also co-founded Verticom, a company that developed PC
graphics cards. Western Digital later acquired Verticom in 1988.
Dr. Hu earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from National
Taiwan University and his master's and doctorate degrees in computer science
from the University of Illinois, Urbana. He later earned an MBA from Santa Clara
University.
"Since joining UMC earlier this year, I have been honored to work closely with
some of the most outstanding companies in the semiconductor industry. These
customers and partners have helped me to better understand the importance of
UMC's role as a world leader in the areas of semiconductor process technology
and manufacturing excellence. The maturity of our advanced manufacturing
technologies is unparalleled, and I hope that my previous experiences as a
foundry customer will enhance UMC's ability to continually set new benchmarks
for excellence in the industry. I am confident we are well on the way to meeting
this objective due to the world-class team that UMC has assembled during its
long and successful history. I look forward to cooperating closely with Chairman
Robert Tsao and Vice Chairmen John Hsuan and Peter Chang, and every other UMC
employee to make UMC the world's most competitive foundry company," said Dr.
Jackson Hu.
In a public statement given at the announcement of his appointment, Dr. Hu
outlined the following priorities and goals for UMC:
1. UMC will accelerate its investment in its 12-inch (300mm) manufacturing
facilities. Before the end of next year, UMC expects to expand capacity at
Taiwan's Fab 12A to 20,000 wafers per month, and capacity at its UMCi
Singapore affiliate to 10,000 wafers per month.
2. In order to ensure continued leadership in the area of 12-inch wafer
manufacturing, UMC will further strengthen its research and development for
90nm and below process technologies, and ensure the availability of a
complete catalog of relevant IP (silicon intellectual property) for
integration in its customers' leading-edge designs.
3. UMC will continue to operate as a pure IC foundry with a strong emphasis on
customer partnerships, and has no plans to pursue a so-called "Virtual IDM"
strategy. However, in order to ensure a diversified and sufficient customer
base, UMC may choose to make investments in certain IC design companies. At
the same time, UMC will take all possible measures to avoid any conflict of
interest with its existing customers.
4. UMC plans to carefully review its investment portfolio, and divest itself
of non-core investments. With regard to its investments in listed IC
companies, UMC plans to gradually divest itself of these investments, in a
manner that will not negatively impact their stock price or business
relationship with UMC. UMC believes that its cooperation with partners and
customers should be based on its technical proficiency and outstanding
foundry services, not based on any investment status. UMC will use the sale
of these shares to enhance its profitability.
About UMC
UMC (NYSE: UMC, TSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that
manufactures advanced process ICs for applications spanning every major sector
of the semiconductor industry. UMC delivers cutting-edge foundry technologies
that enable sophisticated system-on-chip (SOC) designs, including 90nm, 0.13um
copper, embedded DRAM, and mixed signal/RFCMOS. UMC is also a leader in 300mm
manufacturing; Fab 12A in Taiwan is currently in volume production for a variety
of customer products, while the Singapore-based UMCi joint venture will begin
pilot production later this year. UMC employs over 8,500 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.