[PConline News] The price of 8GB of memory has dropped to 1,000 yuan. It's now more expensive to buy a single memory module than a 4-core processor or a graphics card—something that would have been unthinkable just a year ago. The biggest winners in this dramatic rise in memory prices are Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, who collectively control over 90% of the global DRAM chip market. The remaining share is divided among several Taiwanese firms, with no major Chinese players yet in the memory chip space. However, China is making moves. Ziguang has launched its Yangtze River Storage, investing over $2.4 billion in R&D for flash memory and DRAM chips in Wuhan, and planning to spend more than $3 billion on new manufacturing facilities in Nanjing. Now, a company from Hefei, Anhui, has also entered the race. Zhao Yi Innovation recently partnered with Hefei Industrial Investment Holdings Co., Ltd., investing 1.8 billion yuan to develop 19nm chip technology.
According to an official announcement from Hefei Industrial Investment Holdings Co., Ltd., Beijing-based Zhao Yi Innovation will focus on producing 12-inch 19nm process wafers for memory chips—including DRAM—in the Hefei Economic and Technological Development Zone. Their goal is to successfully develop the technology by December 31, 2018. Specifically, they aim for a product yield rate of at least 10%, meaning that at least 10% of the wafers will pass quality tests. The collaboration is funded in a 1:4 ratio, with Zhao Yi Innovation contributing approximately 3.6 billion yuan.
Based on their published expectations, a 10% yield rate seems to be more of an experimental target. This level of yield is far from what is required for mass production, as it would still require significant improvements to reach commercial viability. Moreover, during the R&D phase, the monthly production capacity is estimated to be only 2,000 to 3,000 wafers, which is well below the levels needed for large-scale manufacturing. As such, this project is unlikely to have a meaningful impact on the global memory market in the near future.
In general, there remains considerable uncertainty surrounding this partnership. Both companies have clearly outlined the risks involved. Even if the R&D succeeds, achieving the necessary yield rates for mass production is another challenge entirely. Additionally, the timeline for listing and selling the products could take several years. Therefore, we shouldn't expect this collaboration to quickly resolve the current shortage of memory chips or stabilize the rising prices.
From a technical perspective, their 19nm process memory chips are still quite advanced. While Samsung introduced 20nm DRAM in 2015 and moved to 18nm last year, 19nm is not far behind. Meanwhile, Micron and SK Hynix are also working on completing their transition to the 20nm node this year. This shows that while China is entering the market, it still has a long way to go to catch up with industry leaders.
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