Although YMTC produces highly competitive 3D NAND devices, it faces major difficulties winning market share. This is because it struggles to expand its production capacity due to U.S. export restrictions on advanced tools made by American companies, according to SisaJournal-E. As a result, YMTC’s market share fell below 5% in the second quarter of 2025, reversing years of steady growth.
"YMTC had been steadily increasing its market share until a few years ago, but that is no longer the case," said Choi Jeong-dong, Vice President of TechInsights, at the SEMI Members Day Forum. "Even though they developed cutting-edge technologies like Xtacking 4 (300+ layers) and were the first to adopt hybrid bonding in NAND — which they still use — they can no longer expand their fabs due to U.S. sanctions."
