Samsung to End 2D NAND Production

According to industry sources, Samsung is set to cease 2D NAND flash production on its Line 12 at the Hwaseong plant in South Korea, repurposing the line into a terminal wafer fab for 1C DRAM production.

The affected line has a capacity of 80,000–100,000 12-inch wafers per month. Sources indicate that Samsung had already informed a client last year about the planned halt of 2D NAND production. This move officially ends Samsung's 2D NAND output, with the conversion to DRAM expected to enhance overall DRAM manufacturing efficiency at Hwaseong.

Samsung pioneered global 1Gb NAND flash production in 2002, quickly becoming the world's largest flash memory manufacturer. In 2013, the company achieved production of 3D V-NAND, marking the industry's shift from planar to vertical stacking technology. The transformation of Line 12 comes 24 years after Samsung began 2D NAND production and 13 years after it started 3D NAND manufacturing.

In its Q4 earnings call, Samsung highlighted plans to upgrade legacy processes to more advanced technologies, including phasing out planar NAND flash. At the same time, the company is investing heavily to boost 1C DRAM capacity at both the Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek plants. Pyeongtaek's P4 line, initially designed for DRAM, NAND flash, and foundry services, is now being converted to focus solely on DRAM production.

Other DRAM lines at Hwaseong are also undergoing upgrades to produce 1C DRAM, which is expected to represent a significant portion of Samsung's total DRAM output.