DOMESTIC chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) announced Wednesday new memory chip technology that would help it catch up with global rivals Micron and SK Hynix, just as the United States considers steeper curbs on Chinese semiconductor companies.

The Wuhan-based company unveiled its fourth-generation 3D NAND chip, the X3-9070, and its first to feature 232 layers of memory cells, the Global Times reported Wednesday.

That places it close to rival Micron, which last month said it aimed to start mass production of its 232-layer chip by the end of the year.

South Korea’s SK Hynix has also developed its first 238-layer memory chip, boasting a new industry benchmark.

A YMTC spokesperson declined to comment on the Global Times report Thursday.

Industry experts say that while YMTC will unlikely launch mass production of the chip any time soon, it nevertheless marks a breakthrough for the company.

The company’s market share remains in the single digits, but it is aggressively expanding production capacity and research and development.

Toby Zhu, who tracks China’s chip sector at research firm Canalys, said that while YMTC’s revenue has improved over the years, gaps remain between it and market leaders.

Once a little-known player backed by Chinese State-conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup, YMTC, founded in 2016, is a rising power in manufacturing NAND chips and has attracted attention in the chip industry for its fast advancements in research and development.

Bloomberg reported in March that phone maker Apple Inc. was considering using YMTC as a memory chip supplier, which would mark a major boon for the upstart company.

Reuters reported earlier this week that the United States is considering limiting shipments of American chipmaking equipment to memory-chip makers in China including YMTC, part of a bid to halt China’s semiconductor sector advances and protect U.S. companies.

The curbs, if approved, would involve barring the shipment of U.S. chipmaking equipment to factories in China that manufacture advanced NAND chips.

NAND chips store data in devices such as smartphones and personal computers and at data centers for the likes of Amazon, Facebook and Google. How many gigabytes of data a phone or laptop can hold is determined by how many NAND chips it includes and how advanced they are.

Under the action being considered, U.S. officials would ban the export of tools to China used to make NAND chips with more than 128 layers. LAM Research Corp and Applied Materials, both based in Silicon Valley, are the primary suppliers of such tools.      (SD-Agencies)