ChangXin Technology Plans NAND Flash Entry With Beijing R&D Line and Institute

ChangXin Memory Technologies (688825. SH) is preparing to enter the NAND flash chip market, which is currently dominated by South Korean companies including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The move would broaden ChangXin Memory's customer base and put it in competition with Chinese rival Yangtze Memory Technologies in the rapidly expanding NAND flash sector. ChangXin Memory currently specializes in dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips.

The company plans to establish a NAND flash research and development production line at a new plant in Beijing. It has also set up a research institute in Beijing, with related projects including NAND flash development. ChangXin Memory has discussed its NAND plans with customers, including a newly established startup that plans to procure its NAND chips for use in artificial intelligence systems and supercomputers. It is not yet clear when the R&D production line will begin production, nor whether ChangXin Memory plans to move from the research, development and trial production stage to large-scale commercial production.

Strong demand for AI servers has led to a global memory supply shortage. DRAM is the most core short-term memory in electronic devices, providing working memory for processors. NAND flash, meanwhile, is widely used in mobile phones, computers and data center storage.