Samsung's second phase of expansion at its NAND flash manufacturing facility in Xi'an, China, is advancing according to plan. The first round of investment for the second phase of expansion was concluded in March 2020, and today, Samsung's upgraded Xi'an facility has reportedly entered the equipment installation phase.
Same as before, the second round of investment for Phase II is expected to be completed by mid-2021, which means nothing's changed since last year and Samsung has so far been able to follow its original expansion plans without delays.
Up to 40% of Samsung's NAND flash chips will be manufactured at Xi'an
With the second expansion phase completed later this year, sources believe that Samsung's Xi'an facility will be expected to churn out 130,000 NAND flash wafers every month. In essence, this means that the Xi'an facility will be responsible for manufacturing around 40% of Samsung's global supply of — similar — NAND flash wafers.
A cargo flight route operated by SF Airlines was reportedly opened in mid-January to supply Samsung's Xi'an plant with raw materials and equipment from Tokyo. The flight is scheduled to take place once every week and it's expected to lead to about 5,000 tons of materials being imported via the Xi'an Xianyang International Airport every year.
Samsung's NAND flash market performance in Q4 2020 was good enough for the company to earn almost 2% market share. Its NAND flash shipments were up 7-9% quarter-on-quarter on the back of increased NAND orders from Chinese clients. Industry experts believe that Samsung will continue leading the NAND market this year through SSD and UFS-based products.
