Samsung, SK Hynix Upgrade China Fabs to More Advanced NAND

Samsung is converting its Xi'an plant in China to make 286-layer V9 NAND chips under a project known internally as 'Monami,' from the French for 'my friend.' Reuters reports the ramp targets a monthly output of 5,000 wafers in December this year and then a jump to 40,000 wafers by December 2027.

SK Hynix is moving its Dalian facility from 192-layer NAND toward 240 layers or more.

Both companies 'officially confirmed that process upgrades at their factories in China are underway and that they are in close consultation with the U.S. government, while declining to disclose specific production plans,' per the report. The pressure forcing the moves sits in the same market. YMTC captured 38.5% of China's NAND flash in the second quarter of 2026, overtaking Samsung's 33.5% and leaving SK Hynix at 17%. YMTC held roughly 28% of that market across full-year 2025.

The US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security said last year it 'would not permit capacity expansions and technology upgrades at these plants.' Washington has since granted both firms annual licenses covering 2026 for chipmaking equipment shipments to the sites, a shift from the earlier validated end-user waiver that had kept the fabs running for years.

Globally, the two Korean memory firms are already ahead on nodes: Samsung is producing 286-layer NAND and SK Hynix is mass-producing 321-layer. The China fabs are the ones trailing. The upgrades sit inside a wider run of China chip stories we have tracked this month, from CXMT's rise against Kioxia to the live question of what Washington's annual-license posture actually means in practice.