Samsung and SK Hynix Upgrade China Fabs to Produce More Advanced NAND Chips
nashnova research
Samsung and SK Hynix are upgrading their Chinese factories to push NAND flash chips to 286 layers and 240-plus layers, driven by competition from YMTC and surging AI demand — but the upgrades hinge on U.S. export licenses that remain unresolved.
What is Samsung doing at its Xi'an fab?
Samsung's Xi'an factory accounts for roughly 40% of its global NAND capacity and currently produces chips at about 200 layers.
An internal project codenamed "Monami" aims to switch the fab to 286-layer V9 NAND — This means → Xi'an is targeting parity with Samsung's most advanced lines back in South Korea, not just maintenance.
Timeline: 5,000 wafers per month by December 2025, ramping to 40,000 wafers per month by December 2027.
Samsung stressed the upgrade involves "no capacity expansion or new construction" and is meant to serve global customers, including U.S. buyers.
How is SK Hynix following at its Dalian fab?
The Dalian fab produces 192-layer NAND. SK Hynix acquired it in 2021 as part of Intel's NAND business; it is the sole manufacturing site for its Solidigm brand.
The plan: switch to 240-layer or higher products. SK Hynix already has authorization for up to 240 layers.
The company may also seek U.S. approval to conduct 300-plus-layer R&D in Dalian — In plain terms = the Dalian fab would serve not just as a production upgrade but as a proving ground for next-generation tech, laying the foundation for a potential new U.S.-based NAND fab.
Solidigm is preparing for a U.S. IPO, so Dalian's upgrade progress directly affects the credibility of its valuation story.
Why must they upgrade now?
YMTC (Yangtze Memory Technologies, China's leading domestic NAND maker) is expanding rapidly and steadily eating into Samsung's and SK Hynix's market share.
AI data centers are driving strong demand for higher-layer NAND — more layers mean greater storage density per unit area, which lowers data-center storage costs.
This reflects a shifting competitive landscape: if the Korean firms do not upgrade their China fabs, those lines fall behind YMTC — effectively ceding the Chinese market.
What is the biggest uncertainty?
Since 2022, the U.S. has imposed export controls on certain chipmaking equipment. Samsung and SK Hynix need annual licenses to install U.S.-made tools such as etch systems (machines that carve circuit patterns onto chips) in their Chinese fabs.
The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security said in 2025 it does not intend to approve licenses for foreign chip fabs in China to upgrade technology or expand capacity — but will approve licenses to maintain existing operations.
This means → the policy language itself carries tension. The gray zone between "no upgrades" and "maintenance allowed" is exactly the space Samsung and SK Hynix are probing.
Reuters says it cannot confirm what level of approval U.S. authorities have granted for the relevant equipment exports — this unresolved variable is the single biggest risk to the entire effort.
市场有风险，内容仅供研究参考，不构成投资建议。