Samsung is officially ending the production of its 2D NAND flash storage this year, and the company will be repurposing its old production lines to better fit the AI-driven demand. According to The Elec Korea, Samsung plans to officially stop 2D NAND production at its Hwaseong site, with Line 12 being the one carrying this aging technology. Instead of completely abandoning this facility, which houses plenty of chip-making tools, Samsung will repurpose them for DRAM metallization, which is the process of applying actual pathways within the DRAM itself to connect memory cells. Interestingly, the Hwaseong Line 12 holds a monthly wafer production capacity of 80,000 to 100,000 12-inch wafers. This is a significant number of wafers, which are now only used for 2D NAND Flash, a technology that is no longer needed in the wake of 3D NAND Flash technology.

Continuing the Line 12 legacy will be Samsung's 6th-generation 10 nm-class 1c DRAM, a technology used for HBM4, and Samsung expects the total wafer capacity for 1c DRAM to reach about 200,000 wafers per month in the second half of the year. Adapting the old 2D NAND Flash production site will definitely help, and Samsung will run this production along with Pyeongtaek Line 3 and Line 4.