BlockBeats reported on Sept. 15 that Citrini analyst Jukan said in a post on X that Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) has started fully connecting production equipment for Fab 3, its third wafer plant in Wuhan. In his view, that puts the facility in the final stage before production, with initial operations expected to begin by the end of this year.
Fab 3 moves into the final pre-production stretch
Jukan said the acceleration is worth watching because YMTC is continuing to expand capacity while rapidly increasing its market share. He said Fab 3 is expected to produce about 100,000 12-inch wafers per month at full capacity, with further phased expansion to follow as more equipment is moved in and yields improve.
YMTC ranked third in global NAND bit shipments in Q2
Jukan cited Counterpoint Research data showing that YMTC accounted for 14% of global NAND bit shipments in the second quarter this year, surpassing Kioxia to become the world’s third-largest supplier. That placed it behind Samsung Electronics at 25% and SK Hynix at 22%.
More supply could raise pressure in the flash memory market
Jukan said that if the new capacity from Fab 3 is released smoothly, supply competition in the flash memory market is expected to become more intense. He said he is particularly focused on YMTC’s ability to raise the share of domestically sourced equipment and keep expanding output under U.S. export controls.
That, in his view, could help YMTC narrow the gap with established flash memory makers such as Samsung and SK Hynix at a faster pace. Jukan also cited industry sources as saying that YMTC’s expansion is unlikely to cause an immediate oversupply in flash memory in the short term. Over the longer run, however, its ability to keep increasing output and share with support from China’s domestic market could become a competitive burden for existing flash memory suppliers.