YMTC plans mass production of 300-plus-layer NAND this year, narrowing the technology gap with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in ultra-high-stack memory
China’s Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. (YMTC) is scheduled to begin mass production of its ‘X5-9080,’ an ultra-high-stack NAND with over 300 layers, in the second half of this year. (YMTC)
Warning lights are flashing for the domestic memory semiconductor industry as China has announced plans for the mass production of ultra-high-stack NAND flash with over 300 layers in the second half of this year.
NAND flash, one of the two main pillars of Korea’s memory semiconductor industry along with DRAM, is a non-volatile memory that stores vast amounts of information, with performance improving as more layers are stacked.
Until now, a technology gap of at least one year has existed between domestic companies like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix and their Chinese counterparts, but a growing sense of crisis suggests that even this gap could disappear this year.
Particularly, as Chinese memory companies are threatening the position of ‘K-semiconductors’ by showcasing memory technology specialized for ‘Physical Artificial Intelligence (AI),’ a key future industry, the development of next-generation advanced technology by the domestic industry is emerging as an urgent task.
According to Taiwan’s DigiTimes and semiconductor industry sources on March 27, China’s largest memory company, Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. (YMTC), is scheduled to begin mass production of its ‘X5-9080,’ an ultra-high-stack NAND with over 300 layers, in the second half of this year.
Considering that SK hynix is currently mass-producing 321-layer NAND products and Samsung Electronics is producing 286-layer ones, the gap in stacking technology is effectively disappearing.
Earlier this month, YMTC had unveiled its ‘PC550’ consumer Solid-State Drive (SSD) equipped with 294-layer NAND. An official from the semiconductor industry stated, “The fact that YMTC is achieving results by advancing its proprietary ‘Xtacking’ stacking technology amidst strong U.S. sanctions is a threatening signal to established NAND leaders Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.”
Furthermore, YMTC has moved up the operational start date of its NAND production base under construction in Wuhan, China, from the first half of next year to the second half of this year. Through this, the company plans to increase its global NAND market share from the current 10% to 16% by the end of this year.
YMTC is also considering a listing on the Chinese stock market within the year, with its corporate valuation predicted to significantly exceed $40 billion (approximately 60 trillion won).
Other Chinese memory companies are enhancing their memory technology by successively unveiling advanced NAND solutions specialized in the Physical AI field. Longsys, a Shenzhen-based NAND solutions company, unveiled its ‘mSSD’ specialized for humanoids (human-like robots) at ‘Embedded World 2026’ held in Germany earlier this month. This product integrates the controller and NAND into a single-chip package, reducing its size by more than 60% compared to existing products, making it optimized for humanoids and various AI devices.
Biwin also showcased its ‘AP Series,’ an AI industrial SSD, at the ‘Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026’ held in Spain last month. This product is equipped with technology that prevents stored data from being corrupted even in mobile robots with potentially unstable power supplies or on harsh process automation lines.
Kim Eun-jin
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