China's Memory Chip Leader YMTC Initiates IPO Amid US Export Controls

(CNA, Beijing, 19th, by reporter Chang Shu-ling) Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. (YMTC), China's leader in NAND Flash memory, initiated its Initial Public Offering (IPO) today. YMTC has been under U.S. export controls since the end of 2022, but it has continued to expand its market share through technological breakthroughs and a policy of domestic substitution. The China Securities Regulatory Commission's website disclosed today that the IPO counseling and filing for Yangtze Memory Technologies Holding Co., Ltd. was accepted by the Hubei Securities Regulatory Bureau on the same day. This signifies that the Chinese domestic flash memory giant has formally begun its listing process, with market valuation expectations already approaching that of fellow memory leader ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT). According to combined reports from China Fund and Caixin, YMTC was established in December 2016 and is headquartered in Wuhan, Hubei. Its business covers memory manufacturing, wafer foundry services, packaging and testing, industrial investment, park operations, and innovation incubation, making it China's largest NAND Flash manufacturer. YMTC's core shareholders include the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (the "National Big Fund") and Hubei and Wuhan local state-owned assets, which hold over 92% of the equity. For a long time, the global NAND Flash market has been dominated by South Korean, American, and Japanese companies, with China being relatively weak in the high-end memory chip sector. YMTC is seen as a significant breakthrough for China's semiconductor industry in high-end manufacturing. Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM) and NAND Flash memory are the two main types of memory chips in consumer electronics. The former provides temporary cache space for computing chips like CPUs and GPUs, directly determining computing efficiency, while the latter provides storage space for the system. The global memory market has long been monopolized by three giants: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, who are projected to have a combined DRAM market share of over 90% and a NAND Flash market share of over 60% by 2025. Meanwhile, two Chinese manufacturers, CXMT and YMTC, have made breakthroughs in these two respective fields. The reports indicate that against the backdrop of intensifying global semiconductor competition, the maturity of the domestic memory industry chain is becoming a key indicator of China's semiconductor industrial capabilities. According to reports, YMTC's global market share in flash memory has already surpassed 10%. Caixin pointed out that in December 2022, YMTC was added to the U.S. Department of Commerce's "Entity List," subjecting it to strict export controls and restricting its procurement of equipment and materials. Since then, YMTC has strived to achieve domestic production and has continuously expanded its market share. Currently, YMTC's products have reached a level comparable to international advanced standards.