United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Gokul Hariharan: Okay. Understood. My second question is on the CapEx. The $3 billion number, given that we are running into a downturn, could you talk a little bit about what is the primary — I think it’s mostly 28-nanometer and some Singapore-related expansion. But could you give us a little bit more color on what that $3 billion CapEx comprises of this year? And any qualitative thoughts on — do you think about any adjustment in the CapEx, given we are entering the year with utilization at a lower level and the inventory correction?

Jason Wang: Sure. The majority of the 2023 CapEx will be budgeted for new capacity expansion for the 12A P6 and 12i, the P3 facilities, which are endorsed by the customer as well deposit for that too. A portion of the 28 — I mean, the portion of the 2023s CapEx budget are also geared toward to a product mix upgrade. And the remaining budget will be reserved for the clean room maintenance and general budget. So basic is the P6 and the P3 facility as the major portion of that. As far as the CapEx adjustments, we have a plan to dynamically adjust the CapEx spend, depends on the macro conditions and market demand. And we will — we do have the flexibility to adjust our CapEx expansion and the general maintenance budget if it comes to a need.

Gokul Hariharan: Got it. Just wanted to follow up on the first half bottoming. As things stand right now, do you feel the inventory in the supply chain will reach a normal or a low enough level by end of Q1? Or you think that there are several areas where it still needs another quarter of inventory clearance to kind of get over that?

Jason Wang: I think, like I said earlier, some areas are improved and some are still high. I think by the end of the Q1, I think will be better than the Q4. And I think by Q2, I think the — we expect inventory will improve significantly to more than normal level. So we’re expecting that inventory will gradually improve. And the second half of 2023, we have a much — we have certain confidence that will come back, yes.

Gokul Hariharan: Is that confidence driven by any specific projects that you have or you are basically thinking about overall inventory restocking in the industry happening in second half?

Jason Wang: Actually, multiples. One is the DOI check with the customer. And the other is the engaged projects and also the end market outlook, the alignment that we have with the customers. So there are multiple factors. And however, we are cautiously optimistic about second half and we just have to continue monitoring the progress of the DOI situation.

Gokul Hariharan: Understood. Yes. Thank you very much. I’ll go back to the queue. Thank you.

Jason Wang: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from Charlie Chan with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead, Charlie. Thank you.

Charlie Chan: Hi, Jason, Chi-Tung and Michael. And first of all congratulations to a very strong first quarter result and a happy Chinese New Year ahead. So Jason, my first question is really about your industry assumption. I think you shared with us and also investors about your methodology, right, to forecast the industry revenue. So when I think about the foundry industry, I feel like that revenue should be much lower than semi customers because there is at least one month or even more than one month’s chip inventory at the customer side. So that means the foundry revenue should be at least at 5% or even 10% lower than your customers in 2023 because customers need to pay off those inventory before they reorder. So can you explain why your industry assumption is that semi now high single digit, but foundry will be down only mid-single digit? Can you start with that question? Thank you.

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