Two more China chip projects go belly up
Following default on a $198 million debt repayment, Tsinghua Unigroup has put the construction of a NAND fab and a DRAM fab on hold, reports the Nikkei.
The NAND fab was to have been an $30 billion, 100k wpm facility in Chengdu. No orders for equipment have been placed and the project is on hold.
The DRAM fab was to have been built in Chongqing with a budget reported to be of $110 billion. It planned to have first silicon in 2022. It has now been halted.
“The DRAM project is currently facing delays as there are not enough talent and sources of reliable technology to move ahead that quickly,” a source told the Nikkei.
the China's planning authority – National Development and Reform Commission – has told local governments that they won’t be bailed out if their chip investments go bust.
The Tsinghua projects follow the road to oblivion of three fab-building projects: Fujian Jin Hua, Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and the GloFo-Chengdu foundry jv initiative.
Of China’s big fab initiatives, only two remain in play: Yangtze Memory for NAND and ChangXin Memory For DRAM.