China’s Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) has made progress in replacing foreign chipmaking technology with homegrown alternatives, despite US export restrictions on advanced semiconductor equipment to China since October 2022, according to Bloomberg and TechInsights. YMTC has shifted to domestic chip equipment suppliers, including AMEC (Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment), Naura and Piotech. While still relying on key tools from ASML and Lam Research, domestic suppliers have been increasingly handing major production processes, the report said. In recent years, YMTC has introduced Xtacking 3.0 and Xtacking 4.0 architectures with 232 layers and high-speed interfaces, enabling them to compete with global leaders such as Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix in the SSDs (solid-state drives) market. However, the latest 3D NAND chips made with Chinese equipment have increased defects and lower yields. [Bloomberg]
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