- Samsung has signed an agreement with the China YMTC to use its hybrid binding technology
- The measure will avoid infringement claims in the 400 -layer NAND production
- US-China commercial tensions may also have influenced the agreement
Samsung Electronics has signed a contract with Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) that will allow you to use the union technology of the Chinese semiconductor company in the production of its 400 -layer Flash Nand memory.
Founded in 2016 and based in Wuhan, China, YMTC is a subsidiary of Tsinghua Unigroup, backed by the Chinese government. It focuses on Flash 3D NAND memory, a critical component in storage devices such as SSD, smartphones and data centers, and most more famous Xtacking technology, a patented architecture that improves the performance and density of Flash Nand.
According to Korea Chosunbiz News site, Samsung probably celebrated the agreement to avoid a patent dispute related to this “hybrid union”, which will be an essential process in mass of 400 layers NAND memory.
American trade war a factor?
“YMTC registered the hybrid linking patent and was the first to apply the relevant technology in the process of manufacturing the flash Nand. Although YMTC is significantly tracked behind the global memory semiconductor corporations such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in terms of market market, it accumulates rapid 294 The Nand Flash memory, “explains the memory of the site.
It is believed that the agreement will protect both companies from violating the patents of the others. YMTC sued Micron in a United States court last year, claiming its NAND technology.
Chosunbiz He cites privileged information from the semiconductor industry saying: “In the memory semiconductor industry, companies sign license agreements in advance to avoid patent disputes before development and manufacture of next -generation products. While such agreements are a common practice in the industry, concerns are growing about the rapid narrowing of the technological gap between China and the main companies, such as Samsung, the best player in the Flash Nand memory market, is now using patents from a Chinese company. “
Eenews analogue He points out that there could be more in the agreement than just wanting to avoid infraction. “It can also reflect that a commercial war between the United States and China can affect YMTC’s ability to sell memory components outside China and that a cross license agreement or license for various technologies could benefit YMTC,” writes the site.
Chosunbiz’s The article does not mention SK Hynix, the rival of Samsung’s memory in South Korea, but it is even possible, which has also explored or signed in similar license agreements with YMTC to ensure hybrid linking technology for its own Nand Flash production.
