Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. Ltd (YMTC), China’s twin memory star alongside ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), is following CXMT’s IPO path to capitalize on the memory chip crunch in the AI era and strategically position itself among the global memory elite. Unlike CXMT, which specializes in DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), YMTC focuses on NAND flash devices.
CXMT and YMTC are often referred to as “Two Changs” of China’s rapidly emerging semiconductor market. After CXMT’s blockbuster IPO last month, which raised nearly $10 billion, YMTC has begun formal IPO preparations to list on Shanghai’s STAR market. It has completed the pre-IPO advisory process, which brings it one step closer to listing on China’s A-share market.
YMTC, founded in Wuhan in Hubei province in July 2016, is China’s sole manufacturer of NAND flash chips and currently ranks as the world’s third-largest NAND flash supplier, following Samsung and SK Hynix. According to Counterpoint Research, YMTC captured 14% of global NAND flash memory shipments in the second quarter of 2026, surpassing Kioxia, Micron, and SanDisk.
Counterpoint also reports that YMTC has started mass production of 267-layer 3D NAND chips built around its proprietary Xtacking 4.0 architecture. It’s more than a layer-count achievement; it reflects advances in architecture and process control. Moreover, YMTC is currently developing a NAND flash beyond 300 layers.
View All NAND flash in AI era
It’s worth noting that YMTC’s NAND flash shipments in the second quarter of this year surpassed Japan’s Kioxia for the first time. However, YMTC remained fifth in NAND flash revenue, behind both Kioxia and Micron, which continue to generate more NAND revenue despite shipping fewer bits. That’s because shipping more bits does not automatically mean earning more money.
That calls for more sophisticated manufacturing equipment at YMTC’s fabs, and capital raised from the IPO will inevitably help it up the ante on this front. However, like CXMT, it’s been on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List since 2022, which makes it harder for YMTC to access the most advanced lithographic tools.
Another challenge facing YMTC: While its NAND product mix is mostly concentrated in consumer applications such as notebooks and smartphones, it has limited exposure to the expensive enterprise SSDs used in data centers. That’s critical because, according to Counterpoint, enterprise SSDs accounted for 48% of global NAND bits shipped in the second quarter of 2026, almost double the 26% share a year earlier.
Servers are expected to consume more than half of all NAND bits by the end of 2026 as AI workloads shift from training to inference, which requires faster access to large datasets and key-value (KV) caches. That, in turn, makes high-capacity enterprise storage increasingly valuable. YMTC acknowledges this inference-driven shift and plans to increase the share of enterprise SSDs in its NAND flash mix during the second half of 2026.
Domestic or global?
YMTC and its DRAM counterpart CXMT spent years relying on government funding and racking up losses. So, authorities in China expect these semiconductor memory firms to prioritize supply to domestic OEMs and ODMs. At the same time, however, YMTC and CXMT are seen as China’s best hopes for establishing a foothold in a global memory chip market long dominated by Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.
AI-driven memory chip shortages, and the resulting soaring prices, have opened an unprecedented window of opportunity for these memory underdogs to join the small club of memory elite made up of Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. To do so, however, both YMTC and CXMT must raise capital to sharpen their memory designs and build more fabs to boost production capacity.
DRAM specialist CXMT raised capital through a highly successful IPO last month, and now NAND flash player YMTC is following in its footsteps. As China’s push for semiconductor memory self sufficiency continues to gather momentum, the global buildout of AI data centers is also turning these memory industry underdogs into international players.
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