Semiconductor News & Analysis Feed

Lenovo confirmed that some notebooks sold outside China now use solid-state drives from Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC), marking the first known appearance of the Chinese memory maker's SSDs in an overseas Lenovo model. The move comes as global PC makers face tighter NAND flash supply and higher prices.

Here is how the Japanese chipmaker is cashing in on NAND flash demand in data center SSDs.

AI is reshaping the memory market in ways that could matter well beyond Taiwan and China, according to Phison Electronics founder and chief executive Pua Khein-Seng. He said growing demand for storage from global cloud operators, AI PCs, and servers may reduce the severe ups and downs that have long defined NAND flash prices.

Phison Electronics CEO Khein-seng Pua said the NAND flash market is facing a supply crunch with "no end in sight," as AI continues to crowd out memory capacity and push storage demand higher.

Kioxia is preparing to enter the US capital market through American depositary shares (ADS) in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, just as its latest annual report points to accelerating demand for NAND flash memory, SSDs and next-generation storage used in AI and consumer electronics.

China's memory makers are moving from technology catch-up to capital-market expansion, with ChangXin Memory Technologies' (CXMT) parent and Yangtze Memory Technology (YMTC) both preparing initial public offerings (IPOs) to fund future capacity growth and technology upgrades. South Korean industry players are paying particularly close attention to YMTC, which focuses on NAND Flash and is closing in

Kioxia, one of the world's major NAND flash memory suppliers, is prioritizing long-term agreements (LTAs), BiCS migration, and domestic fab efficiency over aggressive capacity expansion, signaling a more disciplined approach to the AI storage cycle.

Global expansion in AI chips, advanced logic processes, and multilayer 3D NAND flash memory is driving demand for tungsten hexafluoride (WF6), a critical electronic specialty gas used in semiconductor manufacturing. Limited short-term supply additions and low industry inventories are widening the supply-demand gap, triggering a rapid price increase.

NAND flash memory supplier Kioxia Holdings has surpassed Toyota Motor in market capitalisation, becoming Japan's most valuable company. The development highlights how the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom is reshaping Japan's corporate landscape.

SK Hynix is preparing to begin mass production of its next-generation 375-layer 3D NAND flash memory by year-end, while pushing ahead with a broader capacity buildout and moving toward a US listing as early as August.

The race to dominate next-generation NAND flash memory has long been measured in layers — and Samsung Electronics appears to be pulling ahead. The South Korean chipmaker has reportedly developed a 900-layer-class V-NAND prototype, a significant leap that brings the memory industry closer to the 1,000-layer threshold as chipmakers intensify efforts to pack more storage into smaller chips while cutt