According to market research firm Omdia, in the second quarter of this year, Changjiang Storage has already occupied 38.5% of the Chinese NAND market share, compared to 28% last year; Samsung's market share in the Chinese NAND market has decreased from 36% in the second quarter of last year to 33.5% this year, and SK Hynix's market share has also decreased from 20% to 17%.

According to reports, South Korean storage chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are upgrading their factories in China, planning to produce more advanced storage chips.

It is reported that the regulation and restrictions in the United States have affected the production capacity of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in Chinese Mainland, resulting in their market share in China being gradually surpassed by China Changjiang Storage Company.

Electronics and SK Hynix executives have previously publicly warned that geopolitical tensions are weakening the two companies' business in China. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have stated that they are advancing factory upgrades and maintaining close communication with the US government. However, these two companies did not disclose detailed information on the production plan upgrade.

According to sources, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are pushing their Chinese factories to produce NAND flash memory chips with over 200 layers, keeping their product technology level consistent with local factories in South Korea.

Two insiders said that Samsung Electronics' factory in Xi'an can currently produce about 200 layers of NAND chips, accounting for about 40% of the company's global NAND production capacity.

Samsung Electronics internally refers to this upgrade plan as' Monami ', which means' my friend' in French. One of the insiders revealed that Samsung Electronics plans to transform its Xi'an factory to produce 286 layer V9 NAND chips, and aims to achieve monthly production of 5000 wafers by December this year, further increasing to 40000 wafers by December 2027.

According to three informed sources, SK Hynix plans to upgrade its Dalian factory to produce NAND products with 240 layers and above. At present, the highest product produced by the factory is about 192 layers. SK Hynix acquired the Dalian factory when it acquired Intel's NAND business in 2021. The factory is currently still Hynix's only NAND manufacturing base in China, and this part of the business has now been renamed Solidigm and is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix need to apply for licenses from the United States every year in order to install etching equipment and other American made products in their Chinese factories. The US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security also stated last year that it had no intention of approving these foreign chip manufacturers to upgrade their technology in Chinese factories. This regulatory restriction has weakened their expansion capacity and resulted in some market share being given to Changjiang Storage.

*Disclaimer: The above content is reproduced on the WeChat official account of the semiconductor industry circle, which does not represent the views and positions of the company, but only for exchange and learning. If you have any questions or objections, please contact us.