Samsung, SK Hynix upgrade China plants for more advanced memory chips
Samsung is converting its Xi'an plant to 286-layer NAND and SK Hynix is moving Dalian to 240 layers or more to counter China's YMTC, Reuters reported. Both shares closed about 6% higher.
Symbolic image · Photo: 2x910 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
South Korean memory makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are upgrading their factories in China to produce more advanced NAND flash chips, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the plans. Samsung is converting its plant in Xi'an, which accounts for about 40% of its global NAND output, under an internal project called Monami. The site is to move from roughly 200-layer chips to ninth-generation 286-layer chips. One source said output is targeted at 5,000 wafers a month in December, rising to 40,000 by December 2027.
SK Hynix plans to move its plant in Dalian in north-eastern China from 192 layers to 240 or more. The site came with its 2021 purchase of Intel's NAND business and is the only manufacturing site of its Solidigm unit. Samsung said it was not expanding production capacity or building new manufacturing facilities and that the upgrade aimed to meet demand from global customers, including in the U.S., while SK Hynix confirmed the work and said it was in close consultation with Washington. Reuters could not determine whether the required U.S. licences had been granted; the Bureau of Industry and Security said in 2025 it did not intend to approve technology upgrades at these plants.
The move responds to the rapid rise of Chinese rival YMTC, which held 38.5% of China's NAND market in the second quarter, overtaking Samsung at 33.5%, according to Omdia. SK Hynix's share fell to 17%. Demand for memory is also being driven by the boom in artificial intelligence. Shares of both companies closed about 6% higher in Seoul on Wednesday.