In 2023, the memory chip market ushered in the most sluggish year in nearly 15 years. Due to sluggish demand, there is a surplus, and the inventory of major manufacturers is overstocked, and they have reduced prices in order to sell volume. The market was once 50% larger, making consumers deeply feel the benefits of buying DRAM memory and NAND flash memory, such as a 1TB SSD for only 200 yuan, which is even lower than the cheapest 400 yuan before. This situation has led to a huge loss of 150 billion yuan for the three major memory chip giants such as Samsung, SK hynix and Micron. However, it is worth mentioning that in the context of this big trough, domestic memory chip manufacturers have played a key role in supporting the development of the market. Without their involvement, the price reduction of memory chips would not be so large. The impact of a variety of factors has caused the downturn in the memory chip market in 2023. In the face of such a difficult market situation, what is the development of domestic memory chips? We'll dive deeper into this below**.
1.YMTC: There are three memory chip bases in China, among which YMTC focuses on the field of NAND flash memory. YMTC took the lead in launching the "crystal stack" technology, which quickly broke through from 64 layers to 128 layers, and finally achieved 232 layers of 3dnand flash storage. The company's technology surpassed international giants such as Samsung, becoming the world's first manufacturer to mass-produce 232-layer 3DNAND flash memory. However, under the pressure of the United States, the United States** tried to restrict China's flash memory devices and technologies above 128 layers. Therefore, at present, YMTC only has a small number of 232-layer flash memory production lines, mainly producing 128-layer technology. Recently, it was reported that YMTC has launched a new 120-layer technology, which has not yet been confirmed, but it shows that they have made a new breakthrough. In terms of market share, YMTC currently accounts for about 5% of the global market, and is continuing to expand its production capacity, planning to reach 15-20% of the global market share in the future.
2.Changxin Storage: Changxin Storage focuses on the field of DDR memory, and has successfully produced DDR5 memory, which is at the international leading level. However, from the perspective of process, Changxin Storage still lags behind competitors such as Samsung and SK hynix. The process of these companies has reached about 14 nanometers, while Changxin Storage has been using 21 nanometers and 19 nanometers processes before. In addition, the United States** has also issued a ban on China's DRAM memory, prohibiting the export of equipment and technology of 18nm and below. However, it has recently been reported that Changxin Storage began mass production 18DRAM chips in 5nm process with a production capacity of up to 100,000 wafers per month. At the same time, Changxin Storage has also launched the second phase of the construction plan, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, when the monthly production capacity will reach 140,000 pieces, accounting for 10% of the total global DRAM production capacity. It can be seen that despite the blow in DRAM memory and NAND flash memory, domestic manufacturers are still making breakthroughs in technology and production capacity, and their competitiveness is gradually improving.
Affected by the downturn in the memory chip market, domestic memory chip manufacturers have to reduce their ** to cope with fierce competition, but this is also a major pressure they are facing. However, because of the large number of competitors, Chinese manufacturers have a cost advantage, so they have to cut prices to compete for market share. It is hoped that in the future, domestic memory chip manufacturers can continue to break through technical bottlenecks, increase production capacity and market share, and respond to consumer expectations with practical actions. Only in this way can the product effectively benefit the majority of consumers and develop steadily.
To sum up, domestic memory chip manufacturers are still working hard to develop in the face of a sluggish market situation. Although they have been subject to some restrictions and suppression, they continue to break through technical difficulties, expand production capacity, and gradually improve their competitiveness in the international market. In the future, we have reason to believe that the efforts of domestic memory chip manufacturers will achieve more significant results and make greater contributions to the development of China's memory chip field.