Samsung and SK Hynix strengthen their NAND base in China, advancing equipment investment before the end of the year

According to a report by ZDNet Korea, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plan to continue investing in equipment for NAND flash production lines in China until next year to strengthen local production bases. Since the first half of this year, Samsung has been advancing V9 NAND conversion investments at the Xi'an X2 production line, which features an advanced process with approximately 280 layers stacked, and is expected to achieve a monthly production capacity of 40,000 to 50,000 wafers. To stabilize mass production, the company has confirmed a supplementary investment plan, focusing on additional etching process equipment, with related procurement orders expected to be clarified around the end of the year, and the supplementary investment planned to be executed starting in the second half of next year.

SK Hynix has been advancing equipment investments related to NAND product upgrades at its Dalian Plant 2 since the third quarter of this year, with a discussed scale of approximately 30,000 wafers per month. Key manufacturing equipment will begin arriving next month, with plans to complete deployment by the first half of next year. The Dalian plant is an asset acquired after SK Hynix took over Intel's NAND division in the second half of 2020. In 2022, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the expansion of Plant 2, but equipment investment was temporarily halted due to market conditions; this investment is now being restarted.

Industry insiders point out that the above arrangements aim to gradually expand advanced NAND capacity within China to meet the rapid growth in demand for high-end storage in fields such as artificial intelligence servers.