Facility

Samsung Xi'an NAND Fab (Phase 1 + Phase 2)

Samsung's Xi'an, Shaanxi China NAND flash fab complex is Samsung's largest single NAND facility by capacity, producing V-NAND (3D NAND) at scale. Phase 1 opened 2014; Phase 2 opened 2019; combined capacity approximately 130,000 NAND wafer starts per month. The Xi'an fab became a geopolitical flashpoint when the US October 2022 export control rules (BIS Entity List / advanced chip equipment restrictions) required non-US companies to obtain licenses before supplying advanced semiconductor equipment to China. Samsung received a one-year BIS exemption from the rules (later renewed) allowing continued equipment upgrades at Xi'an — without which Samsung would be frozen at its current layer count and unable to advance V-NAND generations at its largest facility. Xi'an represents ~40% of Samsung's total NAND wafer capacity, meaning any export control escalation that ends the Samsung Xi'an exemption would immediately reduce Samsung's effective NAND capacity by ~40% and create a global NAND supply shock. Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-grants-samsung-sk-hynix-indefinite-waivers-export-controls-china-chips-2023-10-09/