According to reports, Hefei Changxin, a DRAM manufacturer based in Hefei, China, has officially launched its DRAM project production. It will now initiate the trail production of 8Gb DDR4 engineering samples, which is the first DRAM chip independently developed by China. The Changxin DRAM project was supported by the Hefei government, 300 equipment were ready in early 2018. According to the plan, the trial production will be launched in July or August of 2018 with a process of 19 nanometers.
At present, DRAM manufacturers in mainland China mainly include GUOXINMICRO, JHICC, Hefei Changxin, and YMTC. In terms of progress, GUOXINMICRO’s Xi’an UniIC has started production of DDR4 chip for small batch, JHICC plans to mass production in the second half of 2018. Hefei Changxin's DRAM project is scheduled to be mass-produced by the end of 2018, and YMTC's DRAM project has been postpone.
It is understood that Changxin's five-year plan is:
- Complete the construction of the first plant in January 2018 and begin installation of equipment;
- Mass production of 8Gb DDR4 engineering samples at the end of 2018;
- Mass production of 8Gb LPDDR4 in the third quarter of 2019;
- The production capacity reached 20,000 pieces/month at the end of 2019;
- Plan the construction of the second plant in 2020;
- Complete the development of 17nm technology in 2021.
Changxin is the fourth manufacturer in the world to produce DRAM using processes below 20 nanometers. The other three are the three DRAM giants, Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron. These three companies occupy a total global market share of over 95%.
It is expected that Changxin's 12-inch memory wafer manufacturing project will occupy approximately 8% of the global DRAM market after it is put into mass production. In addition, from the development of GUOXINMICRO, JHICC, Hefei Changxin, and YMTC in recent years, it is not difficult to see that China has great determination for the development of the DRAM products.
