China's YMTC Plans Factories to More Than Double Chip Output

YMTC Unveils Massive Expansion Plans

Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp, China's largest NAND flash memory producer, is planning to build two additional semiconductor factories alongside a third plant nearing completion in Wuhan, in a move that would more than double the company's production capacity.

The three new plants will each have the capacity to produce one hundred thousand wafers per month when fully operational. YMTC currently operates two fabrication facilities with a combined monthly output of around two hundred thousand wafers.

Third Factory Takes Shape

The third factory, located in Wuhan alongside YMTC's existing facilities, has already completed construction, with equipment installation now underway. More than half of the tools being installed come from domestic Chinese suppliers, including equipment essential for vertical chip stacking, reflecting China's push toward semiconductor self-sufficiency.

That plant is expected to begin operations later this year and reach a capacity of fifty thousand wafers per month by twenty twenty-seven. Once all three new facilities are running at full capacity, YMTC's total output would rise to roughly five hundred thousand wafers per month, positioning the company to overtake SK Hynix and Micron and become the world's third-largest NAND producer behind Samsung and Kioxia.

DRAM Ambitions and IPO Plans

YMTC is also expanding beyond its NAND flash roots. Both of the two newest planned plants will dedicate part of their capacity to DRAM production. The company has already sent low-power DRAM samples to clients and expects feedback by year-end. YMTC is also planning a public listing in the second half of twenty twenty-six, with proceeds directed towards equipment and research.

US Restrictions Loom Large

The expansion comes against a backdrop of tightening American export controls. YMTC was placed on the US Entity List in December twenty twenty-two, and US lawmakers recently introduced the bipartisan MATCH Act, which would ban the sale of critical chipmaking equipment to YMTC and other leading Chinese semiconductor firms. UBS estimates that China's combined memory capacity expansion could reach one hundred and twenty thousand to one hundred and forty thousand additional wafers per month this year.