Reuters：三星、SK海力士升级中国NAND厂至200层以上以对抗长江存储，公司称在与美方协商中进行

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are upgrading their NAND flash factories in China to make chips with more than 200 layers, Reuters reported on October 21, citing four people familiar with the plans. The move would let the South Korean memory makers win back ground lost to Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC), even though US curbs on upgrading their China operations remain formally in place.

According to the report, Samsung is converting its plant in Xian to make 286-layer V9 NAND. The plant accounts for about 40% of the company's global NAND output and currently makes chips with about 200 layers. The project, known internally as "Monami," targets a monthly output of 5,000 wafers in December 2026 and 40,000 wafers by December 2027, one person said. SK Hynix plans to shift production at its Dalian facilities from 192-layer products to chips with 240 layers or more. One person said the company is already authorized to make chips with up to 240 layers there and may ask Washington for permission to research 300-plus-layer chips at the site.
Both companies confirmed that the upgrades were underway in consultation with Washington. Samsung said the work complies with US export rules and serves global customers, including those in the US, and that it is not expanding capacity or building new facilities. Reuters could not determine the extent to which US authorities have granted the equipment licenses the upgrades require.
Fending off YMTC
The upgrades come after three years in which the Korean firms' China fabs were largely held at older technology while YMTC advanced. Citing Omdia data, Reuters reported that YMTC held 38.5% of China's NAND market in the second quarter, up from 28% for all of 2025, overtaking Samsung, whose share slipped to 33.5% from 36%. SK Hynix's share fell to 17% from 20%. Globally, YMTC ranked third in NAND shipments in the second quarter, ahead of Micron and Kioxia, CNBC reported. YMTC's lineup consists mostly of 160- and 232-layer chips, but it also makes a small volume of 294-layer parts.
Layer count matters because more layers mean higher storage density and lower cost per bit. With its Xian plant, which supplies about two-fifths of its NAND output, stuck a generation behind, Samsung faces a cost disadvantage against a rival working at the leading edge in the same market. For SK Hynix, Dalian is the only NAND manufacturing site of Solidigm, the former Intel NAND business that is preparing for a US initial public offering, so the fab's competitiveness bears directly on that listing.
Demand adds urgency. AI data centers are absorbing large volumes of high-capacity solid-state drives, and strong memory prices helped lift global semiconductor revenue to a record high of more than US$425 billion in the second quarter. Upgrading existing fabs is the fastest way for the Korean companies to raise bit output without building new plants.
Washington's shifting line
The US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) revoked, effective December 31, 2025, the fabs' validated end-user status, which had allowed US tools to be shipped to them without individual licenses. The bureau said it would license continued operation but not expansion or upgrades. Asked about the upgrades, BIS referred Reuters to that statement.
In practice, Washington appears less rigid. Last December, the Commerce Department gave SK Hynix limited authorization to ship equipment to Dalian in 2026, though not yet for 2027, TechSpot reported. SK Hynix is also in talks with the Trump administration about building a NAND plant in the US, and Korean media have reported that the company has linked approval of equipment for Dalian to that investment. Washington has neither publicly backed nor blocked the upgrades, but with YMTC gaining share and AI demand straining NAND supply, its line on the Korean fabs appears to be wavering.