YMTC wants 70% of its next fab's equipment to come from China

China's biggest flash memory maker is betting harder on homegrown gear. YMTC plans to source anywhere from 60% to 70% of the equipment for its next factory from Chinese suppliers, according to Reuters, which cited two people familiar with the matter. The 60% figure is the floor; 70% is the ambition.

That's a real step up. YMTC's Phase 3 plant ran with just over half its tools made domestically, making it the first major Chinese memory fab to clear the 50% threshold. AMEC, Naura and Piotech were among the key suppliers there, and a fourth fab holding at 60% or better would hand them a hefty pipeline of orders.

The new plant is expected to break ground next year in Wuhan, where YMTC is headquartered. Output is already substantial: two operating fabs run roughly 200,000 wafers per month combined, and the new sites could push total capacity well past that — potentially doubling it. Phase 3 itself is slated to start operations by late 2026, ramping to 50,000 wafers per month in 2027 and eventually hitting 100,000. YMTC is also weighing two more fabs with similar goals.

YMTC is no niche player anymore. It ranked third worldwide in NAND bit shipments in the second quarter of 2026, holding 14% of the market. Stack new capacity on top of that share and the global storage chip market could be looking at a lot more supply.

The cash side is messier. Parent company CCSH has paused a planned IPO worth roughly CNY 33 billion, or about $4.9 billion, pointing to market volatility and regulatory caution. With that listing on hold, how fast YMTC can actually build may hinge on when conditions and regulators loosen up.

So watch two things: whether next year's groundbreaking happens on schedule, and whether those two extra fabs graduate from consideration to construction. That will show how much of the plan survives a meeting with the capital markets.