© 4designersart dreamstime.com
Analysis | July 29, 2016
Tsinghua Unigroup and XMC team up
China’s state-backed technology conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup has acquired a majority stake in XMC, a major compatriot semiconductor manufacturer, and brought it under a new holding company called Yangtze River Storage Technology.
From this point on, XMC will be responsible for coordinating the development of China’s memory industry, which is wholly in pursuit of NAND Flash production.
“The tie-up of Tsinghua Unigroup and XMC opens up a new chapter in the development of China’s memory industry and is expected to help the country move towards the goal of self-sufficiency in memory chips,” said Sean Yang, research director of DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. “For almost a year, Chinese semiconductor companies have demonstrated flexibility in their strategic thinking and determination in executing their plans as they build up an indigenous memory industry. Their abilities are getting noticed and their actions will have significant effects on the global memory market.”
According to DRAMeXchange, NAND Flash bit demand will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 47 percent from 2011 to 2016. Demand growth will remain high in the next decade on account of the strong SSD market. This is also the reason why Tsinghua Unigroup and XMC have partnered up to make substantial investments in the NAND Flash industry.
Yang pointed out that the technology conglomerate and the semiconductor maker complement each other in many ways: “Formerly a NOR Flash manufacturer, XMC has experience in memory chip production, fab building and capacity installation. Tsinghua Unigroup, on the other hand, is proficient in fund raising and merger/acquisition. Together, they will be able to feed off each other strengths. Furthermore, much of the available resource and capital will be funneled into the domestic memory industry. This in turn would make future consolidation efforts within the industry more effective. In sum, the cooperation between Tsinghua Unigroup and XMC will facilitate growth in China’s memory industry and increase its independence. Internally, the industry will have better development focus. On the global stage, the industry will have a stronger bargaining position. The ensuing developments from this partnership deal will be worth keeping a close eye on.”
Currently, XMC is ahead of other domestic memory makers in the NAND Flash race. Its 3D-NAND technology, which is co-developed with U.S.-based semiconductor company Spansion, is now at the initial stage of mass production for 32-layer stacked chips. With the support of the government’s National Integrated Circuitry Industry Investment Fund, XMC also announced the building of a 3D-NAND fab this March. This new fab is scheduled to be in operation during the first half of 2018.
Major international NAND Flash suppliers have also been busy lately. Samsung continues to invest in its memory fab located in Xian, China. At the same time, the South Korean memory giant is also planning a new fab for 3D-NAND products at home in the city of Pyeongtaek. Western Digital and Toshiba’s New Fab 2, a facility in the Japanese city of Yokkaichi, continues to grow in capacity.
This 3D-NAND fab was originally a joint project between Toshiba and SanDisk, which was recently acquired by Western Digital. SK Hynix currently has several plants producing NAND Flash. In South Korea, the memory maker’s fab M14 will begin its second phase of 3D-NAND production in the first quarter of 2017. This is in addition to the existing NAND Flash production in M11 and M12, which are also located in the country. While Micron does not plan to build any new fabs, the U.S. memory maker is expanding its Fab 10X in Singapore.
“Since a fab that produces 3D-NAND Flash costs several times to build and set up than a fab making planar (2D) NAND Flash, a good option for Micron will be team up with Tsinghua Unigroup/XMC under same arrangements it has with Inotera,” said Yang. “Based on this particular joint venture model, Micron will provide the technology while its partner(s) provide the capital and build the manufacturing plant. Micron therefore will have gain additional capacity for a fairly long period without shouldering too much financial burden. This type of teamwork is also an opportunity for Micron to catch up with Samsung and Western Digital/Toshiba in market share. It will be interesting to see if Micron will seize the moment to work with Tsinghua Unigroup and XMC.”
-----
More can be found at Trendforce.
“The tie-up of Tsinghua Unigroup and XMC opens up a new chapter in the development of China’s memory industry and is expected to help the country move towards the goal of self-sufficiency in memory chips,” said Sean Yang, research director of DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. “For almost a year, Chinese semiconductor companies have demonstrated flexibility in their strategic thinking and determination in executing their plans as they build up an indigenous memory industry. Their abilities are getting noticed and their actions will have significant effects on the global memory market.”
According to DRAMeXchange, NAND Flash bit demand will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 47 percent from 2011 to 2016. Demand growth will remain high in the next decade on account of the strong SSD market. This is also the reason why Tsinghua Unigroup and XMC have partnered up to make substantial investments in the NAND Flash industry.
Yang pointed out that the technology conglomerate and the semiconductor maker complement each other in many ways: “Formerly a NOR Flash manufacturer, XMC has experience in memory chip production, fab building and capacity installation. Tsinghua Unigroup, on the other hand, is proficient in fund raising and merger/acquisition. Together, they will be able to feed off each other strengths. Furthermore, much of the available resource and capital will be funneled into the domestic memory industry. This in turn would make future consolidation efforts within the industry more effective. In sum, the cooperation between Tsinghua Unigroup and XMC will facilitate growth in China’s memory industry and increase its independence. Internally, the industry will have better development focus. On the global stage, the industry will have a stronger bargaining position. The ensuing developments from this partnership deal will be worth keeping a close eye on.”
Currently, XMC is ahead of other domestic memory makers in the NAND Flash race. Its 3D-NAND technology, which is co-developed with U.S.-based semiconductor company Spansion, is now at the initial stage of mass production for 32-layer stacked chips. With the support of the government’s National Integrated Circuitry Industry Investment Fund, XMC also announced the building of a 3D-NAND fab this March. This new fab is scheduled to be in operation during the first half of 2018.
Major international NAND Flash suppliers have also been busy lately. Samsung continues to invest in its memory fab located in Xian, China. At the same time, the South Korean memory giant is also planning a new fab for 3D-NAND products at home in the city of Pyeongtaek. Western Digital and Toshiba’s New Fab 2, a facility in the Japanese city of Yokkaichi, continues to grow in capacity.
This 3D-NAND fab was originally a joint project between Toshiba and SanDisk, which was recently acquired by Western Digital. SK Hynix currently has several plants producing NAND Flash. In South Korea, the memory maker’s fab M14 will begin its second phase of 3D-NAND production in the first quarter of 2017. This is in addition to the existing NAND Flash production in M11 and M12, which are also located in the country. While Micron does not plan to build any new fabs, the U.S. memory maker is expanding its Fab 10X in Singapore.
“Since a fab that produces 3D-NAND Flash costs several times to build and set up than a fab making planar (2D) NAND Flash, a good option for Micron will be team up with Tsinghua Unigroup/XMC under same arrangements it has with Inotera,” said Yang. “Based on this particular joint venture model, Micron will provide the technology while its partner(s) provide the capital and build the manufacturing plant. Micron therefore will have gain additional capacity for a fairly long period without shouldering too much financial burden. This type of teamwork is also an opportunity for Micron to catch up with Samsung and Western Digital/Toshiba in market share. It will be interesting to see if Micron will seize the moment to work with Tsinghua Unigroup and XMC.”
-----
More can be found at Trendforce.
Chinese memory companies arrange trial production to begin in 2H/18
China has entered the semiconductor sector and focused on the development of domestic memory industry. The three key players are YMTC, Innotron (Hefei Chang Xin) and JHICC, which work on NAND Flash, mobile DRAM and...
Schweizer increase turnover to EUR 120.9 million
The Schweizer Group closed the accounts in 2017 with a record turnover of EUR 120.9 million...
Are we ready for Air Taxi Services?
Volocopter certainly believes we are. The German company presented a vision that integrates air taxis into existing transportation systems to provide additional mobility for up to 10'000 passengers per day with a single point to...
Flir Systems completes strategic investment in DroneSense
Flir has completed a strategic investment in DroneSense, the makers of a software platform...
Emerson to acquire Tools & Test equipment business from Textron
Emerson has signed an agreement to purchase the Tools and Test Equipment (Tools...
TTM completes acquisition of Anaren
PCB manufacturer, TTM Technologies has completed its acquisition of Anaren, Inc. The...
Robots create jobs – new research
At 309 units per 10'000 employees, robot density in German manufacturing industry...
EDA industry revenue up 10.7% YoY in Q4/2017
The Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry revenue for Q4/2017 increased...
Cobham wins KF-X multirole fighter oxygen system contract
Cobham has received a contract from Korean Aerospace Industries Ltd (KAI) to design and supply a pilot Oxygen System for the future KF-X, an advanced multirole fighter aircraft currently under development.
PCB growth takes a break in February 2018
PCB manufacturers in the European D/A/CH region reported on February sales figures that were ten percent lower than those registered for January 2018. However, compared YoY, figures were 6.2 percent higher.
Tempo builds new factory in San Francisco
EMS-provider Tempo has closed a USD 20 million Series B financing round to increase its...
Manz with order from e-mobility sector
Manz has received an order for a standard production line from a European customer in the...
STI awarded the new Aerospace accreditation
UK based contract electronics manufacturer, Surface Technology International Ltd...
Finland wants to take the lead on the European battery market
Evertiq has over the course of the last year reported on several major investments regarding...
ABB and a smooth ride on water
The company has demonstrated a new futuristic, zero-emission new design of water taxi, called...
IPTE expands location in Romania
IPTE Factory Automation says that the company has expanded its production location in...
Fineline VAR acquires Prestwick Circuits
Fineline VAR Ltd, the UK subsidiary of Fineline Global, have acquired fellow UK...
Semiconductor leaders’ market shares surge over the past 10 years
The top-5 semiconductor suppliers accounted for 43% of the world’s semiconductor sales...
Scanfil to help Coloreel to disrupt the textile industry
Contract manufacturer Scanfil will manufacture the Coloreel Embroline which aims to...
List: Europe's biggest EMS providers 2017
Manufacturing Market Insider recently released its top 50 list of the worlds biggest EMS...
Related news
Most Read
Load more news
Comments