Report: China-Based YMTC Could Launch SSD Brand Soon

YMTC, a relative newcomer to the NAND market, may be starting its own SSD brand in Q3, according to a report from DigiTimes today. The Chinese-based company recently started mass production of its own design 64-layer 3D NAND, which it will purportedly use in its SSDs.

DigiTimes' report cites unnamed industry sources claiming that YMTC will initially focus on building PCIe 3.0-based SSDs but might work on PCIe 4.0 drives in the future -- a path that likely depends on the success of the former.

From the looks of it, YMTC doesn't have its own controller technology yet, though. Consequently, it may use a Phison or Silicon Motion controller to handle data throughput between the NAND and your PC. A controller partnership with Phison wouldn't be surprising, considering that Phison has already partnered up with Yangtze Memory Technologies in a move that opened the door for SSDs with NAND made from Chinese companies. 

Meanwhile, YMTC is also set to initiate mass production of its 128-layer tall 3D NAND later this year too. YMTC will build this technology with Xtacking 2.0, which is YMTC's version of Samsung's Double-Stack tech that the Korean manufacturer is using to stack up to 160 layers tall.

It's not clear yet whether the SSDs made by YMTC will be aimed at the enterprise or consumer markets.