According to reports, Samsung is going to start production on its new Pyeongtaek semiconductor plant in the Gyeonggi Province of South Korea ahead of schedule in order to meet rising demand for 3-D NAND flash memory chips. Samsung is reportedly planning to complete construction on the plant by December this year and start producing chips from the second quarter of next year. If all goes according to plan, the effort will enable Samsung to start mass production of chips three months ahead of schedule.

3-D NAND chips are used in premium smartphones such as the iPhone 7 and even those being made by Chinese OEMs. As the largest chipmaker in the world, it is only in Samsung’s best interests to continue to meet demand and further increase its lead over the competition. It’s believed that Samsung is directly responsible for 30 percent of the 3-D NAND capacity being brought online through 2018. The company’s new facility is going to have four production lines and it will be built on a 2.89 million-square-meter site. It’s going to be the largest facility of its kind in the world. The plant is going to have a total production capacity of 200,000 wafers, Samsung is expected to produce up to 50,000 300-millimeter wafer sheets in the first phase of mass production.