US mulls expanding Chinese embargo to include YMTC
The US is considering restricting shipments of chipmaking equipment to memory chip manufacturers in China, and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. Ltd. (YMTC) in particular, according to multiple sources.
More specifically US officials would ban the export of equipment used to make 3D-NAND flash memories with more than 128 layers. As well as impacting YMTC it would hit South Korea chip companies Samsung and SK Hynix, that manufacture 3D-NAND at wafer fabs in China.
The move would provide protection for Western Digital and Micron Technology but at the expense of California-based tool providers such as Applied Materials and LAM Research Corp.
This would represent an expansion of US export controls to memory chips that do not have specific military purposes.
YMTC was founded in 2016 and has grown, with substantial Chinese government support, to have about 5 percent of the 3D-NAND market. It is able to offer chips at prices below those of other manufacturers and is reportedly in supply negotiations with Apple.
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