Media reports highlight that CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies), China’s domestic memory chip maker, has drawn widespread industry attention with its rapid capacity expansion drive. Latest data from research firm Citrini Research indicates the company is emerging as a formidable rival in the global DRAM market, with manufacturing scale comparable to industry heavyweight Micron.
Forecasts show that if all ongoing expansion projects are delivered on schedule, CXMT’s monthly DRAM wafer capacity will reach approximately 350,000 wafers by the end of 2026.
For reference, Micron, one of the world’s three major DRAM suppliers, is projected to hit a monthly output of around 375,000 wafers upon completing its planned capacity expansions within the same timeframe. Such production scale is unprecedented for a young manufacturer that has expanded rapidly in recent years to cater to domestic market demand.
The report also highlights a closely watched industry trend: CXMT constructs cleanrooms far faster than the industry average, with a build cycle of merely 12 months, versus the typical 21 to 24 months required by other leading global DRAM manufacturers.
Restricted by U.S. sanctions from accessing cutting-edge Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools, CXMT has achieved technological breakthroughs by combining Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) lithography with multi-patterning processes.
CXMT has commenced shipments of 16 Gb DDR5 chips built on its G4 process node, supporting an 8000 MT/s data transfer rate with a 20% smaller die footprint compared to the prior generation. Meanwhile, high-end products including 24Gb memory modules and LPDDR5X-10667 have entered mass production.
The bulk of CXMT’s current capacity is fueled by soaring demand across artificial intelligence (AI) applications. In parallel, the Chinese government is actively supporting CXMT to license its proprietary DRAM intellectual property to other domestic manufacturers such as JHICC, Swaysure and XMC under Yangjie Technology. This initiative aims to ease tight domestic memory supply and pave the way for CXMT’s homegrown DRAM products to enter global markets including the EU and the United States.
(Reprinted from https://news.eccn.com/）