DigiTimes称长江存储和长鑫科技正推动更多存储供应出海并提前扩产

According to DigiTimes, YMTC and CXMT are seeking to increase the share of their memory supply shipped outside China.

As part of this strategy, YMTC is reportedly selling NAND chips to independent third-party module makers, which then assemble them into finished enterprise solid-state drives (SSDs) for customers such as U.S. neocloud providers. This indirect route is intended to avoid sensitivities surrounding the products’ country of origin.

YMTC’s new Phase 3 fab was originally scheduled to begin mass production in the second quarter of 2027, but the start of operations is now expected to be brought forward to the fourth quarter of 2026. The fab will have a total production capacity of 100,000 wafers per month and is expected to initially operate at around 50,000 wafers per month. Notably, YMTC plans to allocate 20% of the fab’s capacity to LPDDR trial production, making it the company’s first DRAM manufacturing base.

Supply-chain sources said that amid the continued global memory shortage, China’s two major memory manufacturers have been tasked with raising the domestic market’s self-sufficiency rate. China’s memory self-sufficiency rate could exceed 50% as early as late 2027 or sometime in 2028.

As production capacity at YMTC’s Wuhan Phase 3 fab begins to ramp up meaningfully from 2027, the company is expected to continue pursuing a strategy of increasing the share of its supply shipped to overseas markets.

YMTC is not alone in making this move. With DDR5 and LPDDR5 supplies becoming increasingly tight, CXMT has reportedly begun product qualification with small and midsized cloud service providers in markets including the U.S. and Canada. The company appears to be seeking to secure customers early by locking in capacity commitments ahead of time.

Industry sources said that it is currently “possible in principle” for private-sector U.S. companies to purchase products from YMTC or CXMT.

Recent reports that Apple is seeking to incorporate more production capacity from Chinese memory suppliers into its supply chain have drawn market attention. However, supply-chain industry sources believe that Apple’s influence is no longer what it once was in the AI era and that its impact on industry-wide supply and demand has declined substantially.

From the perspective of Chinese suppliers, entering Apple’s supply chain would primarily serve as proof that the quality of their products has reached the level of major global vendors. They reportedly have no intention of supplying Apple in large volumes or competing by cutting prices.

According to industry sources, some of Apple’s procurement personnel have also recently moved to NVIDIA.

Even if Apple attempts to use CXMT’s or YMTC’s capacity to lower its procurement prices, it is unlikely to succeed in 2026. Moreover, only limited capacity reportedly remains available for allocation in 2027.