The United Kingdom demonstrated a prominent presence at SEMICON Taiwan 2025 last week, reinforcing its position as a key player in innovative technology. The UK Department for Business and Trade and Innovate UK, the national innovation agency, led a delegation of over 30 emerging companies across semiconductor manufacturing, design, testing, and materials sectors to the event.
Strategic partnerships take center stage
This presence not only showcased the UK's diverse capabilities and research and development strength in the semiconductor industry but also fostered deeper integration with Taiwan's ecosystem. Following meetings between key UK players and several leading Taiwanese chip supply chain giants, further collaboration opportunities are expected to emerge.
A Department for Business and Trade official accompanying the delegation emphasized that cooperation with Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem is especially crucial for the UK industry. The official noted that there is insufficient space within the UK itself to build out a complete semiconductor supply chain, limiting venues where many innovative technologies can be practically implemented.
Given Taiwan's robust advanced chip manufacturing capabilities, startups must establish partnerships there. Additionally, Taiwan hosts outstanding players in integrated circuit design and downstream system sectors, providing fertile ground for UK chip design and intellectual property startups to find development opportunities.
Four key focus areas drive UK strategy
According to information provided by the British Office Taipei, the UK government continues to strengthen its technological prowess in four areas where it already has advantages: integrated circuit design, compound semiconductors, silicon photonics, and advanced packaging. Most of the exhibitors attending the event focus on one or more of these fields.
Industry insiders in Taiwan noted that although Arm remains the most representative UK company in the global semiconductor sector, many UK teams actively pursue innovation beyond existing technologies, with particularly vibrant momentum in chip intellectual property development.
While not every company may have achieved a commercial breakthrough yet, they have secured solid positions in specialized niche markets.
Notable participants showcase innovation potential
An official from the British Office Taipei highlighted notable participants such as silicon photonics firm Bay Photonics, MOSFET developer IceMOS Technology, metrology solutions provider Infinitesima, flexible chip maker Pragmatic Semiconductor, hydrogen supplier LUX Industries, laser micromachining and imaging specialist Oxford Lasers, and secure chip intellectual property provider SCI Semiconductor.
Although some vendors have yet to launch commercial solutions that are ready for direct customer deployment, discussions with potential partners in Taiwan during the event generally yielded promising initial results.
Article edited by Jerry Chen
