appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Che Pan

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC), China’s leading flash memory chip manufacturer, has achieved a significant technological breakthrough despite US sanctions, amid Beijing’s push for technological self-sufficiency, according to a report by TechInsights.
YMTC has implemented its new Xtacking4.0 memory chip design in its highest-density 3D NAND chip, which was discovered in the commercial ZhiTai TiPro9000 solid-state storage device, according to a recent report from Canadian integrated circuit (IC) research firm TechInsights.
The chip features a dual-deck structure – a lower deck with 150 gates and an upper deck with 144 gates – totalling 294 gates. It uses what is known as a hybrid-bonding technique to join two wafers together.
Following last year’s release of Xtacking4.0 devices such as YMTC’s 160-layer product, industry observers anticipated the company would incorporate this architecture into products with higher layer counts.
This new design surpasses the sophistication of its predecessor, which had a total of 180 gates. While featuring a modified internal layout, its most notable achievement is storage density, with an industry-first capacity of over 20 gigabits per square millimetre. TechInsights estimates the design contains around 270 active memory layers.
“The important takeaway is that China’s YMTC has beaten the competition to market,” said TechInsights senior analyst Jeongdong Choe, who wrote the report. “With the new Xtacking4.0 technology, YMTC appears to have found a way to overcome the current ban with this new chip.”

YMTC has not publicly released details of the technological breakthrough. The company did not address the issue when asked for comment, saying only that it is “committed to driving global innovation to further propel the industry forward and meet the evolving needs of our customers and partners”.
Washington blacklisted YMTC two years ago by putting it on the so-called Entity List. The sanctions cut the company off from leading semiconductor equipment makers such as Lam Research, which can no longer service its machines that YMTC has relied on for high-production yields.
The Wuhan-based chipmaker has since increased its reliance on domestic chip tool makers such as Naura Technology Group.
In modern 3D NAND structures, multiple active layers are stacked vertically with gate structures to create high-density storage. The quality and composition of these active layers significantly impact the overall performance and durability of the memory device.
“YMTC is the leader in hybrid bonding technology, which is essential for higher-layered 3D NAND,” Choe said in response to an emailed inquiry. “That’s why Samsung and other NAND companies follow and prepare the hybrid bonding structure for the next generations.”
Thanks to YMTC’s mature hybrid bonding technology, they may be able to add even more layers, Choe added.
YMTC is closely watched by global competitors such as South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, who still lead the global memory market.
SK Hynix, which supplies more than 50 per cent of advanced high-bandwidth memory chips to artificial intelligence chip manufacturers, is on track to mass-produce the industry’s highest 321-layer 4D NAND chip in the first half of this year, according to a company statement in November.
Global market competition in NAND flash memory is expected to intensify this year due to weak demand and oversupply worsened by aggressive production expansion by Chinese suppliers driven by domestic substitution policies. In response, Samsung, SK Hynix, and US-based Micron Technology plan to cut production by lowering utilisation rates and delaying process upgrades, according to a report by Taiwanese IC research firm TrendForce.


Chip foundries better insulated in an AI slowdown than Asia-Pacific tech peers, S&P says

China to see major shift to Huawei for AI model training in 2027: deputy chair

Rare honour: Trump will greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews, not just White House

President Xi’s industrial power play sees China bet big on AI, chips and smarter factories

Semiconductors

Top Chinese memory chip maker YMTC makes another design breakthrough, defying US sanctions

Analysts expected Yangtze Memory Technologies Co to integrate its new Xtacking4.0 chip design in memory chips with higher layer counts. Photo: Shutterstock

A 64-layer 3D NAND flash memory wafer from YMTC. Photo: ymtc.com

TSMC cuts ties with Singapore firm over chip found in Huawei processor: sources

A TSMC logo seen at its headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Photo: AFP

TSMC has tightened its scrutiny of clients after one of its chips was found in a Huawei processor. Photo: Reuters

A map of Beijing’s Tongming Lake IT City showing its tenants, including Sophgo and Loongson. Photo: Che Pan

Chip war: US may unveil new rules limiting China access to AI chips before Biden goes

Under the Biden administration, the US has implemented three major export control rules to restrict China’s ability to use US core tech to modernise its military. Photo: Shutterstock Images

This photo taken on December 25, 2024 shows an employee at a semiconductor factory in Binzhou, in eastern China’s Shandong province. Photo: AFP

US President Joe Biden speaks at an event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 9, 2023. Photo: AFP via Getty Images/TNS

China’s No 2 chip foundry Hua Hong names former Intel veteran as new president

Workers in the clean room at a foundry operated by Hua Hung Semiconductor. Photo: Handout

A Chinese flag is displayed next to a ‘Made in China’ sign seen on a printed circuit board in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Tech war: China poised to expand AI infrastructure to keep pace with US Stargate project

The US-China rivalry in artificial intelligence has widened to cover the digital infrastructure used to drive the technology’s development. Photo: Shutterstock

US President Donald Trump announces the Stargate Project – accompanied by, from left, Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, SoftBank Group chief executive Masayoshi Son and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman – in a press conference at the White House on January 21, 2025. Photo: TNS

Elon Musk, who founded artificial intelligence start-up xAI to challenge OpenAI, casts doubt on the investment behind the Stargate Project. Photo: Shutterstock

Tech war: China creates US$8.2 billion AI investment fund amid tightened US trade controls

The new fund reflects Beijing’s determination to advance the nation’s artificial-intelligence capabilities, despite US tech restrictions. Photo:  EPA-EFE

Tech

Tech Trends

Big Tech

News

China Future Tech

China

Money & Wealth

Business

China Business

Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation is integrating a new design into chips with 294 gates, research firm finds


Yangtze Memory Technologies Co is integrating a new design into chips with 294 gates, research firm finds.


Top Chinese memory chip maker YMTC makes another design breakthrough, defying US sanctions

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation is integrating a new design into chips with 294 gates, research firm finds

Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation is integrating a new design into chips with 294 gates, research firm finds