• CXMT plans NAND flash research line in Beijing, sources say
  • Move opens new market beyond CXMT's core DRAM business
  • Global flash shortage has boosted prices, strained device makers
  • CXMT would challenge Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron and China's YMTC
  • China memory leaders expand with state, local-government backing

Chinese chipmaker CXMT is preparing to enter the booming flash memory ​chip market dominated by Samsung Electronics and other foreign rivals, three people with knowledge of the matter said, a move that would broaden ‌its customer base amid a global memory shortage.

The move would also pit the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip specialist against domestic rival YMTC, taking it into one of the semiconductor industry's fastest-growing segments.