Samsung Electronics forged a rare patent licensing agreement with a China-based chipmaker, moving to employ Yangtze Memory Technologies’ 3D NAND hybrid bonding technology to manufacture next-generation flash memory, The Chosun Daily reported.

Yangtze Memory Technologies was an early developer of hybrid bonding for NAND production, with the method lowering chip height while increasing data processing speeds, the newspaper wrote.

The technique can boost the number of layers on NAND chips from 300 to more than 400.

Samsung arranged a cross-licensing deal, The Chosun Daily reported.

Global Times reported the patented bonding method is crucial for Samsung to quickly mass produce its next-generation NAND chips.

Samsung has fallen behind local rival SK Hynix in high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used for AI tasks, prompting new Device Solution division president Jun Young-hyun to reorganise the division.

The vendor also faced due delays in winning approval from Nvidia for next-generation HBM chips.

In January, Nvidia founder Jensen Huang expressed confidence Samsung could resolve technical issues with its HBM products.