Samsung and SK Hynix increase investment in China NAND production, with Xi’an and Dalian plant investments to be completed by next year

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are accelerating efforts to strengthen their NAND flash memory production footprint in China. The two Korean memory giants plan to complete a new round of equipment investments by next year in response to surging demand for high-end storage driven by AI servers.

According to ZDnet's Tuesday report, industry sources reveal that Samsung Electronics has finalized its investment plan to convert the Xi’an plant to ninth-generation NAND production and determined an additional supplementary investment scheme. Related equipment procurement orders are expected to be secured by the end of this year, with supplementary investments to begin in the second half of next year. SK Hynix has, since the third quarter of this year, been advancing equipment investment at its second plant in Dalian to upgrade its NAND product lines, targeting a monthly production capacity of about 30,000 wafers.

These investment plans indicate that both companies are positioning their Chinese manufacturing lines as crucial pillars for high-end NAND mass production. As AI infrastructure development accelerates, market demand for advanced NAND continues to expand; this round of production expansion in China is expected to further strengthen both companies’ high-end product supply capabilities.

Samsung Xi’an Plant: V9 NAND Phase-by-Phase Capacity Expansion

In the first half of this year, Samsung Electronics began investment in converting the Xi’an X2 line to V9 NAND production. The V9 NAND utilizes a 280-layer stack architecture, representing the most advanced NAND product currently available. The line’s monthly capacity is expected to reach 40,000 to 50,000 wafers.

To further ensure stable mass production of V9 NAND, Samsung Electronics recently finalized a supplementary investment plan for this facility, focused mainly on the addition of etching process equipment. Etching is a crucial step in NAND manufacturing—since NAND requires hundreds of storage layers to be stacked, extremely deep channel holes must be etched on the wafers, demanding highly precise and deep etching techniques.

Industry sources disclosed that Samsung Electronics plans to proceed with this supplementary investment in the second half of next year, with related equipment procurement orders to be implemented by the end of this year. The source stated that Samsung will gradually advance the expansion of advanced NAND production capacity in China over this year and next, directly motivated by the rapid rise in demand for high-end NAND for applications such as AI servers.

SK Hynix Dalian Plant: Accelerated Investment in New Production Lines

SK Hynix has started investing in equipment at its second Dalian plant since the third quarter of this year, aiming to upgrade local NAND products technologically. It is reported that the discussed investment corresponds to a target monthly capacity of approximately 30,000 wafers, with further investment to continue into next year.

The latest investment at the Dalian plant marks SK Hynix’s practical acceleration in building up NAND capacity in China, keeping pace with the expansion at Samsung’s Xi’an plant. Together, these initiatives form a key strategy for both Korean memory companies to address the global gap between supply and demand for high-end NAND.