On June 4, 2026, South Korean media outlet Korea Economic Daily reported that as the global NAND flash memory market recorded record-high sales amid a rapid expansion of demand for artificial intelligence (AI), Chinese semiconductor manufacturers are rapidly increasing their presence.

According to market research firms, global NAND market sales reached 46 billion dollars (approximately 7.36 trillion yen) in the first quarter of this year, updating the record high on a quarterly basis. The primary factor is said to be the surge in demand for servers, accompanying the expansion of AI-related infrastructure investment.

In terms of market share, South Korea's Samsung Electronics maintained the top position with 29%, followed by South Korea's SK Hynix with 18%. Meanwhile, China's YMTC (Yangtze Memory Technologies Co.) is garnering attention. Its share, which was 8% a year ago, expanded to 13%, and sales recorded a 445% increase year-on-year. It is analyzed to have benefited from the expansion of domestic Chinese demand and price increases due to supply shortages.

The battle for third place sees Japan's Kioxia, the United States' Micron Technology and SanDisk, and China's YMTC intensely competing.

The article introduced an expert's view stating that "if YMTC secures additional funds through a stock listing, a significant expansion of production capacity will become possible," and pointed out the possibility of it rising to the world's third position in the future.

Regarding this, South Korean internet users voiced comments such as: "China's technological progress is really fast," "China's catching up is more than imagined," "Just a few years ago, they were said to be no match," "Korean companies cannot rest easy," "The scale of government support is too different," and "Will China eventually take the lead in semiconductors too?"

On the other hand, comments such as "I think South Korea is still superior in terms of quality," "As long as the AI market expands, there's still great room for growth," "It's surprising that Japanese companies are struggling," "I think if China gets serious, it will overtake us, but it would be good if Chinese and Korean companies could compete and grow together," and "The fiercer the competition, the more technological innovation will advance" were also seen. (Translation/Editing: Higuchi)