Phison has announced that its SSD controllers now support 3D NAND flash chips manufactured by China’s Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. This latest development opens the door for China’s NAND-based SSDs to achieve an international breakthrough in the memory market.
Phison and Yangtze agree to support China-made 3D NAND flash
Yangtze Memory Technologies has recruited strategic partners to build its own ecosystem. Before the last announcement, the Chinese manufacturer had already entered into a partnership with ADATA and Silicon Motion. The addition of Phison is critical, as Phison (like Silicon Motion) specializes in SSD controllers, which are a critical component of any successful SSD.
The Chinese manufacturer had already tried in the past to catch up with other large NAND manufacturers on the market with little success. However, the company’s strong determination eventually led the NAND manufacturer to switch from 64 to 128 layers and completely skip the 96-layer phase.
According to DigiTimes, Phison’s entire portfolio has been validated to support Yangtze’s 64- and 128-layer 3D NAND chips based on Xtacking 2.0 technology.
However, storage for the consumer is only a further step. Phison hopes to eventually expand its partnership with the Yangtze River to include high-end storage, such as integrated industrial and enterprise products.
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Having ADATA on the side of the Yangtze River should be an advantage for the chip manufacturer. ADATA, like many other SSD manufacturers, does not produce its own NAND chips and is dependent on third parties such as Micron, Kioxia, Intel, etc.
Yangtze’s offerings seem competitive on paper, and with the right prices and incentives, we can expect other SSD manufacturers to eventually jump on the bandwagon and offer devices that are cheaper to produce. We will keep you informed.