Huaian Imaging Device Manufacturer (HIDM) web site responds with "Error 403 - Forbidden." The company has been established in 2016 and signed a licensing agreement with ON Semi to manufacture consumer image sensors, such as 13MP AR1337:
A WIPO query PA:"HUAIAN IMAGING DEVICE MANUFACTURER CORPORATION" brings 1,224 patents and patent applications filed by the company, quite impressive number for any 4 year-old organization:
China Business Network newspaper tells the HiDM (德淮 or Dehuai) story. The project has been started by Li Ruiwei who also invested in Nanjing Dekema, another failed CIS fab:
"Dehuai Semiconductor was established in 2016 in Huaiyin District, with a total investment of 45 billion yuan, of which 12 billion yuan was invested in the first phase, covering an area of 257 acres, and planning to build an annual output of 240,000 12-inch CIS wafer fabs.
Zeng determined to "be China's No. 1 and No. 2 in the world, and pursue his dream to become a semiconductor manufacturer like Samsung."
However, after the project started, Li Ruiwei was "cleaned up" because he could not contribute funds, and the legal representative was changed to Xia Shaozeng.
According to the reporter's understanding, in order to make the project really land as soon as possible, Xia Shao once launched a fierce money offensive against party and government leaders such as Liu Zeyu, Sang Shaohuai, and Dong Huaichen in Huaiyin District, Huai'an City.
It is reported that before the Mid-Autumn Festival of 2017 and before the Spring Festival of 2019, Sang Shaohuai, a member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Huai'an High-tech Zone, used his position to provide government investment, project approval and construction, incentives and tax rebates. Dehuai Semiconductor sought profit and received RMB 200,000 from Xia Shaozeng. Moreover, he took bribes in the Office of the Administrative Committee of Huai'an High-tech Zone.
In October 2019, Liu Zeyu was also subject to disciplinary inspection and supervision and investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law. At the end of 2019, Dong Huaichen, a director representing the government on the Dehuai Semiconductor Board of Directors, was also investigated. It is worth noting that Dong Huaichen was the person in charge of two state-owned enterprises, Huai'an Yuanxing Investment and Huaiyin City Assets, the main investment entity of the Huaiyin District Government.
It is reported that of the 4.6 billion yuan actually invested in the Dehuai project, 3.5 billion yuan is funded by the Huaiyin district government. The 1 billion yuan subscribed by the management of Dehuai Semiconductor is only 41 million yuan in place, and the 1 billion yuan for an employee shareholding platform is not in place.
Dehuai Semiconductor has also become lonely. In April 2020, the local Huaiyin District Government has dispatched a working group.According to Xu Yuquan, deputy director of the Dehuai Semiconductor Working Group Office, the company had nearly 1,000 employees, and currently only 78 are left behind. Currently, 57 sets of equipment are entering the site, and 154 sets of equipment have not entered the site. The chairman and general manager of Xia Shaozeng, and the deputy general manager in charge of finance have stayed in Taiwan, China for a long time and have not come back.
Xu Yuquan said that from the government level, he still wants to save the company. At present, the completion rate of the Dehuai Semiconductor project has reached 90%, and it is only a step away. You can find some projects with mature and stable technology in the market to start the project first."
The China Business Network article also mentions Zhongjing Aerospace Semiconductor founded in 2017:
"Jiangsu Zhongjing Aerospace once painted a beautiful blueprint for the Xuyi County government, planning two 8-inch CIS wafer fabs with an annual output of 240,000 pieces, integrating elements such as semiconductor towns, supply chain bases, and application education bases. The technical team mainly comes from the technical teams of famous semiconductor companies in Japan and Taiwan.
The reporter entered the plant of the project and found that the former plant had long been vacant, and only the plant on the east side still had some equipment. However, the above-mentioned people familiar with the matter said that these devices have been mortgaged to the bank and can't be moved even if they want to."
They'd never have been able to make money with AR1337. The die size was far too big to be cost competitive with other 1/3-inch, 13MP sensors.
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