On April 22, sources revealed that a Japanese memory leader has pushed UMC to partner with IP giant eMemory, restarting memory foundry operations in Japan. The collaboration will take place at UMC’s Japan 12-inch fab (USJC) – formerly Fujitsu’s Mie fab – targeting 2D NAND and NOR Flash chips.

This marks UMC’s return to memory after years, and the first time a Taiwan-based company produces memory chips in Japan.

The USJC fab has experience in both logic and memory, serving automotive and industrial controls. It will use 45/40nm MLC NAND mature process, with trial production in 2H 2026 and mass production in 2027.

Why now? Major NAND players like Kioxia are exiting 2D NAND to focus on high-end 3D NAND. But demand for 2D NAND and NOR Flash remains strong in automotive, industrial, consumer sectors – product lifecycles exceed 10 years. Supply gaps are widening. A Japanese memory leader seeks alternative capacity for supply stability and geopolitics.

UMC and eMemory have a long partnership. They previously integrated eMemory’s OTP (one-time programmable non-volatile memory) into UMC’s 0.18μm and below. In 2013, they expanded to OTP/MTP from 0.18μm to 28nm. In 2020, they launched PUFflash on UMC’s 55nm eFlash. In 2021, eMemory’s ReRAM IP passed UMC 40nm certification; in 2023, RRAM IP passed 22nm ultra-low-power reliability.

Logic fabs cannot directly convert to memory, but 28nm eNVM can integrate NOR Flash into logic circuits. Converting to 2D planar NAND/NOR is the most feasible path. The model: IP + process integration to speed yield with minimal hardware changes. UMC is evaluating 28nm conversion.

UMC just announced mature process price hikes for 2H 2026. Entering memory foundry could become a major growth driver. UMC and eMemory have no comment; all eyes on UMC’s April 29 earnings call.

ICgoodFind : UMC and eMemory target the 2D NAND and NOR Flash shortage – filling auto/industrial gaps and opening a new growth curve for mature process.