Array
(
    [content] => 
    [params] => Array
        (
            [0] => /forum/index.php?threads/top-chinese-memory-chip-maker-ymtc-said-to-be-laying-off-10-per-cent-of-workforce-after-us-sanctions.17413/
        )

    [addOns] => Array
        (
            [DL6/MLTP] => 13
            [Hampel/TimeZoneDebug] => 1000070
            [SV/ChangePostDate] => 2010200
            [SemiWiki/Newsletter] => 1000010
            [SemiWiki/WPMenu] => 1000010
            [SemiWiki/XPressExtend] => 1000010
            [ThemeHouse/XLink] => 1000970
            [ThemeHouse/XPress] => 1010570
            [XF] => 2021370
            [XFI] => 1050270
        )

    [wordpress] => /var/www/html
)

Top Chinese memory chip maker YMTC said to be laying off 10 per cent of workforce after US sanctions

Daniel Nenni

Admin
Staff member
Top Chinese memory chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) is laying off up to 10 per cent of its workforce less than two months after it was added to a US trade blacklist.

According to one source familiar with the situation, the laid off workers – representing about 10 per cent of the total – were internally identified as “underperformers” in their 2022 performance review. If confirmed, the lay-offs would amount to several hundred people as YMTC employs nearly 6,000, according to the corporate registry database Qichacha.

YMTC did not reply to repeated requests for comment.

The report gained public attention after one of the laid off YMTC employees, who said he worked at the company for more than four years, posted on Chinese social media platform Zhihu that the company asked him to pay back over 400,000 yuan (US$59,000) for a subsidised apartment he bought in Wuhan, where the headquarters of YMTC is located. The employee confirmed his identity with the South China Morning Post but declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The employee wrote that he had bought the apartment at a discount under the company’s preferential housing policy. However, since his service at YMTC was shorter than five years, the company said he was required to pay the price difference. His Zhihu post generated widespread sympathy from Chinese internet users, as it is rare for an employer to seek to recoup money from sacked employees.

The YMTC employee told the Post that the lay-offs affect “almost all departments” and range from 5 to 10 per cent of staff. Dismissed employees who purchased subsidised housing but worked at the company for less than five years were asked to repay amounts ranging from 300,000 yuan to 1 million yuan, he added.

YMTC’s latest troubles come as China’s top NAND flash chip maker is navigating a storm amid tough new US restrictions on the export of leading edge semiconductor tech to China, and after being added to Washington’s Entity List in December 2022.

The US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security put YMTC, along with 35 other Chinese entities, on the trade blacklist that restricts procurement of US products and services without Washington’s approval. The US alleges that YMTC has provided products to companies already under its export controls, including Huawei Technologies Co and surveillance camera maker Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co.

YMTC’s fourth-generation 3D flash memory chip. Photo: Handout

YMTC’s fourth-generation 3D flash memory chip. Photo: Handout

The Post reported last week that YMTC may even postpone construction of its second wafer fab in Wuhan due to disruptions to its procurement supply chain.

YMTC has not publicly commented on the impact of the US sanctions. However, industry analysts have said it will be very hard for the chip maker to continue developing its latest 3D NAND flash technology, known as Xtacking 3.0, having been denied access to advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

While the state-backed YMTC is a private company with no obligations to disclose financial and operating results, it is being closely watched as an example of how China could test the limits of home-grown innovation under US restrictions.

In mid-October, a week after the new US export controls were imposed, the company was still recruiting fresh graduates, offering generous salary packages, including at least 15 days of annual leave and the right to purchase a new home in a specified residential compound in Wuhan city at 40 per cent below market value.

Global sales of memory chips, which make up a quarter of all semiconductor sales, recorded a 10 per cent year-on-year decline in 2022 amid a “significant collapse in demand”, according to a report from market research firm Gartner.

Top US memory chip maker Micron Technology announced in December that it would be laying off 10 per cent of its workforce after reporting lower-than-expected earnings for its first fiscal quarter of 2023.

 
"Top Chinese memory chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) is laying off up to 10 per cent of its workforce less than two months after it was added to a US trade blacklist."

I was not aware that YMTC had US customers. You would think that China would consume every wafer they had due to the China First policy. I call BS on the blacklist thing.

Wikipedia:

In July 2021, U.S. Representatives Michael McCaul and Bill Hagerty wrote a letter to the United States Secretary of Commerce arguing that YMTC should be placed on the department's Entity List. The letter stated that YMTC will assist the Chinese government in using unfair trade tactics to force American competitors out of the memory-chip sector, thereby putting US national security at jeopardy. It also highlights YMTC's alleged close ties with the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese military, as some YMTC executives previously worked for Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, which was added to the Entity List in December 2020.[26][27]

In April 2022, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio voiced his displeasure with reports that Apple was considering procuring NAND chips from YMTC. YMTC, according to Rubio, has ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army.[28][29] In September 2022, additional legislators urged the White House to put YMTC on the entity list after a report was released about YMTC's supply of chips to Huawei.[30] In October 2022, the Biden administration announced 31 Chinese companies, including YMTC, were being added to the Unverified List.[31] On December 15th, the Biden administration added YMTC to a trade blacklist.[32] The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 also banned the U.S. federal government from buying or using chips from YMTC.[33]
 
I'm shocked they only had 6000 employees. If they were going to open a second fab soon you'd think they would be training a bunch of people at their one fab. 6000 seems about right for R&D+fab, but too little for R&D+2 fabs. It also seems odd for Apple to think about YMTC given how little capacity they have. One memory fab is practically nothing. Doubly so in YMTC's case, because I doubt their one fab is as big as some of the monster Samsung fabs.
 
"Top Chinese memory chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) is laying off up to 10 per cent of its workforce less than two months after it was added to a US trade blacklist."

I was not aware that YMTC had US customers. You would think that China would consume every wafer they had due to the China First policy. I call BS on the blacklist thing.
Is it possible that being on the blacklist is affecting their operations in some secondary way, like not being able to maintain or service US-sourced chip-making equipment?
 
Is it possible that being on the blacklist is affecting their operations in some secondary way, like not being able to maintain or service US-sourced chip-making equipment?
Yes, for example, Lam, AMAT, KLA. However, local support base might already be established.
 
One rumor is YMTC was not on the list but they keep supplying to Huawei so YMTC violated the rule.
Interesting. Huawei got sanctioned for shipping western gear to Iran...

And I heard that next wave of sanctions will be triggered by avoiding sanctions on Russia...

In my opinion, It is interesting because it looks like these sanctions are not directly targeting china. It is more about china being too greedy trying to monetize on these "opportunities".
 
Interesting. Huawei got sanctioned for shipping western gear to Iran...

And I heard that next wave of sanctions will be triggered by avoiding sanctions on Russia...

In my opinion, It is interesting because it looks like these sanctions are not directly targeting china. It is more about china being too greedy trying to monetize on these "opportunities".
Tons of ICs were sent to Russia thru China/Hong Kong.
It's very hard to control.
 
One rumor is YMTC was not on the list but they keep supplying to Huawei so YMTC violated the rule.
Huawei is definitely most notorious. Other Chinese phone makers might source from YMTC. To me, the most interesting case would be GigaDevice, a fabless flash memory maker.
 
I'm shocked they only had 6000 employees. If they were going to open a second fab soon you'd think they would be training a bunch of people at their one fab. 6000 seems about right for R&D+fab, but too little for R&D+2 fabs. It also seems odd for Apple to think about YMTC given how little capacity they have. One memory fab is practically nothing. Doubly so in YMTC's case, because I doubt their one fab is as big as some of the monster Samsung fabs.
Original plan was 200KWPM IIRC. I don't know, what was actually equipped. Also they were betting on some form of joint-venture or technology cooperation with Apple, which would catapulted them into leading position. Something similar to Apple+TSMC success story.

Still, 6000 is strangely low. Given that industry there was heavily subsidized and salary/compensation was often much better than for similar position here in EU. Could that be that there was just not enough people to fill that positions?
 
Still, 6000 is strangely low. Given that industry there was heavily subsidized and salary/compensation was often much better than for similar position here in EU. Could that be that there was just not enough people to fill that positions?

6000 is the number of formal employees. They may have large number of contractors working for them,whom do not count as YMTC employee
 
Interesting. Huawei got sanctioned for shipping western gear to Iran...

And I heard that next wave of sanctions will be triggered by avoiding sanctions on Russia...

In my opinion, It is interesting because it looks like these sanctions are not directly targeting china. It is more about china being too greedy trying to monetize on these "opportunities".

That was ZTE. Huawei got sanctioned because the US deem Huawei a threat to US leadership in the field, there are hundreds of Chinese companies on US blacklist now for that reason,and the list will just grow bigger in forseeable future
 
That was ZTE. Huawei got sanctioned because the US deem Huawei a threat to US leadership in the field, there are hundreds of Chinese companies on US blacklist now for that reason,and the list will just grow bigger in forseeable future
This reason was pushed by mainstream media / propaganda but legally it is difficult to prove anything here (even trough everyone know that it is happening :)).

On the other hand, tracking physical equipment is much easier.

 
Back
Top