UMC turns to mature 28nm process to combat global semiconductor shortage | TechSpot
 
UMA has announced plans to invest $3.6 billion in increasing output from its 28 nm manufacturing facilities. This move comes amidst a global semiconductor shortage, and isn't the first time a semiconductor manufacturer "dust off" their older manufacturing processes as a way to remove pressure from more modern silicon manufacturing capabilities. In this case, UMC will be increasing manufacturing output from its 300 mm Fab 12A facility in Tainan, Taiwan.

UMC has entered agreements with some of its clients, who will be paying upfront for expected chip rollout in the future. In exchange, clients will get the benefits of preset pricing (thus avoiding any potential increases arising from increased demand or general price fluctuation), as well as UMC's assurance of certain manufacturing volume allocation towards their needs. Fab 12A currently manufactures 90,000 300 mm wafers per month (wpm). An additional 10,000 wpm is being installed this year and phase six will add another 27,500 wpm to the mix. The mature 28 nm tools will be installed in floors that already feature support for future tooling upgrades to 14 nm. UMC expects to hire around 1,000 additional employees as part of this expansion effort.
 
These chips are probably for automobiles, digital cash machines, and other consumer products. Any relief these companies can give to the global shortage will be welcome. 

henrickd
Might get online within a few months unlike years for entirely new fabs. Exciting news!
Remember that your precious GPUs also use a bunch of tiny ICs made on these older processes, so any relief on that end is good news for availability.

Agreed. The industry needs as much support as possible.