Chinese government backed Yangtze Memory Technology (YMTC) is planning to enter the market with 64-layer 3D NAND at the end of next year. The company received billions of dollars in funding from the Chinese government and could become a major player in the NAND flash memory industry. However, the company's CEO has already announced it doesn't want to disrupt the NAND flash memory market.
YMTC started production of 3D NAND flash memory in its fab in Wuhan earlier this year. Till now the company only produced small volumes of its 32-layer 3D NAND memory. That should change as the company plans mass production of 64-layer 3D NAND in the fourth quarter of 2019.
That means the company is behind major and established competitors like Samsung, SK Hynix and Toshiba Memory which currently produce 96-layer 3D NAND. YMTC has developed its own 3D NAND which it calls Xtackin. The company claims Xtackin will be able to bring DDR4 speeds to NAND memory. Currently only engineering samples are available.
YMTC expects monthly production of 100,000 wafers for its 64-layer 3D NAND which should turn its gross margin on the NAND memory to positive.
While YMTC could become a major player thanks to the billions of dollars of funding from the Chinese government, the company itself will likely not bring down NAND prices. Digitimes reports that YMTC CEO, Simon Yong, has stated that “YMTC will be dedicated to pursuing profit growth, and has no intention of disrupting the NAND chip market”.
