AMS(JiangSu Advanced Memory Semiconductor) get into bankruptcy liquidation process
According to news from Jiwei.com, after seeking a new round of investment to no avail, the insolvent Jiangsu Times Chip Cun Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Times Chip Cun) gave up its final struggle, and the Jiangsu Huai'an government also lost patience with it. The 12-inch wafer fab, which plans to invest 13 billion yuan in total and aims to produce 100,000 pieces of phase-change memory per year, has officially entered bankruptcy liquidation procedures.
Jiwei.com published an article 3 years ago questioning Times Chip's false propaganda, and pointed out that the original team of the company had left bad records in Beijing and Ningbo. Beginning in 2020, the real situation of Times Chip Storage has gradually surfaced, and the judicial risks it faces have also intensified. Due to the arrears of equipment payments, fab project payments, and employee wages, the company has received a total of 145 judgment documents so far. Was listed as the executor 82 times.
In July 2023, the People's Court of Huaiyin District, Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province officially accepted the bankruptcy liquidation case of Jiangsu Times Chip Cun Semiconductor Co., Ltd., and held a public auction of the company's ASML lithography machine worth 143 million yuan.
People familiar with the matter told Jiwei.com that the price of this second-hand ASML lithography machine (model: 1950Hi) purchased by Times Chip Memory was US$28.68 million (the contract was RMB 200 million at the time). Including this equipment, the company purchased a total of 54 sets of main equipment and 290 sets of auxiliary equipment, the total price is about 1.49 billion RMB. However, Times Chip Store owed a large amount of equipment balance at that time.
For the Huaian government, which wants to recover losses as much as possible, if the second-hand equipment and factory buildings stored by Times Chip are auctioned off one by one, the assets that can be recovered are very limited due to the depreciation of the equipment and other debts that need to be paid off. Therefore, the Huai'an government is more inclined to find a high-quality entity to take over the era's chip storage. Two years ago, the Huai'an government sold another unfinished fab, Dehuai Semiconductor, to Rongxin through auction. Today, Rongxin has successfully achieved mass production and regained its vitality.
According to the public information on the Taobao Judicial Auction Network Platform of the Huaiyin District People's Court of Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province, there are no potential buyers for the ASML lithography machine of Timechip, and the auction information for this equipment has now been withdrawn. People familiar with the matter pointed out that a major domestic memory manufacturer and an FD SOI company have had contact with Times Chip Memory and Huai'an, and the possibility of the latter taking over is currently in a leading position.
However, for enterprises, there is no risk at all if they bid for second-hand equipment stored in Times Chip through auctions. However, if it takes over all of Times Chip Memory, it will not be easy to modify the process path and revitalize such a fab with no mass production experience. More importantly, whether the bankruptcy liquidation of Times Chip can solve the historical problems as much as possible like Dehuai Semiconductor did.
集微网消息，寻求新一轮投资无果后，资不抵债的江苏时代芯存半导体有限公司（下称：时代芯存）放弃了最后的挣扎，江苏淮安政府也对其失去耐心。这家总计划投资130亿人民币、立志打造年产10万片相变存储器的12英寸晶圆厂如今已正式进入破产清算程序。
集微网于3年前曾发文质疑时代芯存虚假宣传，并指出该公司的原班人马曾在北京、宁波留下的斑斑劣迹。从2020年开始，时代芯存的真实情况逐渐浮出水面，面临的司法风险也随之加剧，由于拖欠设备款、晶圆厂工程款以及员工工资，该公司至今共收到裁判文书145张，被列为被执行人82次。
2023年7月，江苏淮安市淮阴区人民法院正式受理了江苏时代芯存半导体有限公司的破产清算案，并对该公司一台价值1.43亿元的ASML光刻机进行公开拍卖。
知情人士告诉集微网，时代芯存采购的这台二手ASML光刻机（型号：1950Hi）价格为2868万美元（当时合约人民币2亿元），包括这台设备在内，该公司共购买了54台主设备和290台辅助设备，总价约为14.9亿人民币。不过，时代芯存当时拖欠了大量的设备尾款。
对于想要尽可能挽回损失的淮安政府而言，若将时代芯存的二手设备和厂房逐一拍卖，由于设备的折旧叠加需要偿清的其他债务，能够收回的资产十分有限。因此，淮安政府更倾向于寻找优质主体全盘接手时代芯存。两年前，淮安政府正是通拍卖的方式将另一座烂尾晶圆厂德淮半导体售与荣芯之手，如今的荣芯已经顺利实现量产，重新焕发生机。
根据江苏省淮安市淮阴区人民法院淘宝网司法拍卖网络平台的公开信息，时代芯的ASML光刻机并无潜在买家出价竞买，该设备的拍卖信息如今也已被撤回。知情人士指出，国内的一家存储器大厂和一家FD SOI企业都与时代芯存和淮安方面有过接触，目前后者接盘的可能性正处于领先地位。
不过，对于企业而言，如果通过拍卖竞买时代芯存的二手设备，则并无风险可言。但如若全盘接手时代芯存，修改工艺路径并盘活这样一家并无量产经验的晶圆厂并非易事。更重要的是，时代芯存的破产清算是否能像当年的德淮半导体一样尽可能的解决历史遗留问题。
