SUNNYVALE, Calif., November 27, 2000 - UMC (NYSE: UMC) today announced that Flextronics International (NYSE: FLEX) has joined its Preferred Foundry Program. The world renowned EMS Provider has agreed to endorse UMC as a member of its Preferred Foundry Program to its chip suppliers. As part of the program, Flextronics has qualified UMC to manufacture chips for its suppliers, and likewise extends pre-qualification to UMC customers, for new vendor designs and/or components for which Flextronics controls the qualification process.

"Flextronics is the leading supplier of EMS to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in a wide range of fast growing markets and applications. Accordingly, they are seeking access to leading edge technologies and ways to efficiently qualify the designs and fab processes prior to manufacturing to ensure high-quality end products are available to ramp at the optimal market window," said Jim Kupec senior vice president of worldwide marketing and sales at UMC. "We are helping Flextronics address these requirements directly by providing high-volume, ramp-up capacity to its suppliers in our newest fabs, utilizing UMC's advanced process technologies. In addition, Flextronics suppliers will have the opportunity to gain access to our 0.13 micron technology."

Kupec continued, "We have proven to Flextronics that we manufacture with superior cycle times and yields. Thus, Flextronics has agreed to accelerate the qualification process for its vendors that utilize UMC. This will prove mutually beneficial not only to UMC and Flextronics, but also to Flextronics' suppliers and customers."

Stephen C. Martson, senior vice president and chief procurement officer at Flextronics, noted, "joining UMC's Preferred Foundry Program is an important move for Flextronics, particularly as industry indicators show that the world's leading semiconductor companies have approached maximum capacity. This relationship with UMC will help successful designs to ramp-up production volumes rapidly for Flextronics suppliers, which, in turn will enhance Flextronics' ability to maintain its delivery schedules.

Martson continued, "We selected UMC as our preferred foundry because it has a proven track record with a number of our suppliers for quickly ramping leading-edge technologies to high yields, achieving outstanding quality and timely delivery. This makes us confident that those suppliers that migrate to UMC will benefit from the same superior level of service.

Headquartered in Singapore, Flextronics International is a leading provider of flexibility and speed in Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the fast-growth communications, networking, computer, medical and consumer markets. Flextronics is a major global operating company with design, engineering and manufacturing operations in 27 countries and four continents. This global presence allows for manufacturing excellence through a network of global facilities situated in key markets that in turn provide its customers with the resources, technology and capacity to maximize productivity. Flextronics' ability to provide design and manufacturing services, coordinate innovative product design, provide a full spectrum of specialized services and IT expertise, in conjunction with their global presence, establishes Flextronics as a top-tier EMS provider. For further information, please visit the Flextronics Web site at www.flextronics.com.

UMC's Preferred Foundry Program provides leading-edge advanced process technology, with a certain amount of guaranteed capacity, to suppliers of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM's), Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS's) and service providers who endorse UMC as their preferred foundry. Participants in the program "pre-qualify" chip manufacture by UMC for selected suppliers and vendors, who in turn work with UMC to obtain manufacturing services using advanced technologies and capacity. The pre-qualification component of this program is the catalyst for rapid ramp-up of production volumes, resulting in reduced product time-to-market for participants as well as their suppliers and vendors.

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 Flextronics; and technological and development risks.