Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (HSMC), an $18.5 billion company that aimed to become one of China’s leading high-tech chipmakers, started dismissing employees as hopes for business resumption faded.
"Given the company's status quo, there is no plan for business resumption. All staff members have to submit resignation letters before Sunday and complete departure clearance before March 5. Those who are on a vacation can finish the process online".
HSMC, founded in November 2017, planned to make wafers with advanced logic technology in sizes of 7 nanometers and 14 nanometers. Each of the production lines was expected to make 30,000 pieces per month. The plan also called for a wafer-level advanced packaging production line.
However, the projects grounded to a halt in mid-2020 due to a lack of funds. In November 2020, it was had reportedly been fully taken over by the local unit of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council in Dongxihu district in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province.
Fu Liang, a Beijing-based telecom industry expert, said that the failure of the scale project is in part due to a hasty launch without a systemic and thorough planning, as well as deepen pre-investment investigations.
It's worth noting that the company has pledged an advanced lithography machine which it had bought from Dutch company ASML as mortgage to a bank for loans worth 580 million yuan ($89.61 million) at the end of 2019.