Hsinchu, Taiwan, March 31, 2003 - UMC (NYSE: UMC; TSE: 2303), a world leading semiconductor foundry, today announced that it is shipping customer products based on its 90nm (0.09-um) logic process, making UMC the first dedicated foundry company to announce the delivery of working customer IC's built on the industry's most advanced manufacturing technology. UMC is the first foundry to achieve this significant milestone, signifying the tremendous progress it has made on its most advanced process offering over recent months. UMC expects to move customer wafers to volume production later this year.

S.W. Sun, head of UMC's Central Research and Development Division, stated, "UMC has consistently led the foundry industry in the introduction of the most advanced production technologies. This has been one of our major competitive advantages over the years. Our success in bringing a production-worthy 90nm technology to our customers ahead of the competition will enable them to strengthen their market position. This milestone is a product of intense collaboration between the engineering teams of UMC and our customers, and validates our belief that close, long-term partnerships are the key to success in the foundry industry."

gh volume applications requiring lower densities, Xilinx offers the world's lowest cost FPGA product UMC's extensive experience at the 0.13-um generation has helped smooth the transition to 90nm pilot production. Many of the materials and techniques that were first introduced at the 0.13um generation also apply to 90nm, including copper interconnects and low-k dielectric materials. UMC's 90nm process pushes the technology envelope by incorporating up to 9 copper metal layers, triple gate oxide and other advanced features. Companies demanding ultimate performance, density, and power consumption in the fields of computing, communications and consumer electronics will benefit from UMC's progress in 90nm manufacturing technology development.