Chinese memory manufacturer CXMT has crossed a remarkable threshold on the HBM side, which is critical for artificial intelligence chips. According to industry-sourced information reflected in the South Korean press, the company has reached the same level as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in HBM3 production technology. Although mass production efficiency is still limited, China’s technology gap in the HBM field has decreased to approximately three years.
Balances are changing in artificial intelligence chips. HBM, the high-bandwidth memory standard used in artificial intelligence accelerators, has recently become the most critical topic in the DRAM market. These memories, used in high-performance GPUs from NVIDIA, AMD and other AI chip manufacturers, are produced with vertical stacking and advanced packaging processes, unlike classical DRAM. Therefore, not only wafer production, but also the placement of memory layers, packaging, testing and yield rate determine the commercial success of the product.
According to South Korean sources, China is several generations behind Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in general memory production. However, CXMT has reached the same level as Korean manufacturers on the HBM3 production technology side. The distinction here is critical: The company has technologically reached the point where it can produce HBM3, but it still lags behind Korean manufacturers in terms of efficiency and volume production.
HBM3 is among the memory types used in AI GPUs such as NVIDIA H100. The H100 was one of the first high-performance AI accelerators to fall under US export restrictions to China. After these restrictions, NVIDIA developed a special GPU model called H20 for the Chinese market. While the H20 has 96 GB HBM3 memory, the H100 model uses 80 GB HBM3 memory. CXMT is at the center of China’s progress on the HBM side. The company operates 12-inch DRAM wafer production lines based in Beijing and Hefei in Anhui province.
According to data quoted by Reuters, CXMT is preparing to raise 29.5 billion yuan, or approximately $4.22 billion, for an initial public offering in Shanghai at the end of 2025. The company will allocate this income to renew its production lines, upgrade its technologies and advanced DRAM research. According to the information in the English news of Seoul Economic Daily, CXMT’s monthly 12-inch DRAM wafer production is between 200 thousand and 290 thousand units.
The company is planned to increase this capacity to 300 thousand wafers per month by the end of 2026, and to progress to 400 thousand wafers in the next stage. This capacity increase covers not only standard DRAM production but also production preparation on the HBM side. According to another data in the Korean press, CXMT will allocate approximately 20 percent of its monthly 300 thousand wafer capacity, that is, 60 thousand wafers, to HBM3 production this year.
In the same news, it was stated that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix separately used a capacity of approximately 150 thousand wafers for HBM DRAM production. This table reveals the numerical framework showing that the Chinese manufacturer has not yet reached the volume of Korean manufacturers on the HBM3 side, but the capacity allocated to production has grown in a short time. It is also reported that CXMT gave HBM3 samples to Chinese artificial intelligence chip design companies for testing.
On the Chinese side, it is stated that Huawei is working together with CXMT on the HBM side in the domestic AI chip development process. It is stated that efficiency rates are low in the first production stage. For this reason, part of the resources that the company will obtain from the public offering will be used to increase the efficiency in packaging and stacking processes. The US’s advanced semiconductor equipment restrictions on China are also one of the important topics of this process.
While Chinese manufacturers face limitations in accessing advanced production machines, they are moving forward with domestic solutions in memory and packaging processes. CXMT’s steps on the HBM side have been recorded as one of the most visible results of the production processes developed under these restrictions. On the other hand, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are advancing in the HBM race with newer generation products.
While the use of HBM3e in current AI accelerators is increasing, the industry’s focus has shifted to HBM4. HBM4 is being prepared as a new generation memory standard that offers higher data transfer capacity compared to HBM3. AI GPU manufacturers are expected to turn to HBM4 supply agreements towards the end of the year. Therefore, although CXMT reaching the HBM3 level is a critical threshold for China, it has not completely closed the leadership of Korean manufacturers.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have a more advanced product schedule on the HBM3e and HBM4 side. Not only the memory chip itself, but also the supply chain established with manufacturers with advanced packaging capacity such as TSMC, plays a decisive role in HBM production. The picture in the DRAM market also forms a separate basis that supports the growth of CXMT. According to Omdia data cited by Reuters, CXMT had a 4 percent share in the global DRAM market in the second quarter of 2025.
Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron together controlled more than 90 percent of the market. The increase in HBM capacity due to the demand for artificial intelligence also caused a squeeze on the classical DRAM supply. In this environment, Chinese manufacturers had the opportunity to gain more shares, especially in the local market. CXMT’s public offering process is also directly linked to this picture. The company will expand its production lines with its public offering through the Shanghai STAR Market and will allocate more resources to new generation DRAM technologies such as DDR5 and LPDDR6.
According to Seoul Economic Daily, the company is expected to reach a capital strength of over 7 trillion won with its existing internal resources and IPO proceeds. China’s progress on the HBM side is not limited to CXMT only. AI chip production, memory supply and packaging processes in the country are progressing under the same strategic heading. Limitations in access to NVIDIA’s most powerful AI GPUs due to US restrictions have led Chinese companies to turn more towards domestic accelerator and domestic memory solutions.
CXMT’s crossing of the threshold in HBM3 production was one of the last stages reached in the memory leg of this domestic supply chain. The new aspect of the competition for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix is not only capacity. The fact that Chinese manufacturers have started to produce even with low efficiency becomes a factor that can increase price pressure over time. In the HBM market, high-efficiency production and advanced packaging are still among the strengths of Korean companies.
However, on the Chinese side, public support, public offering resources and domestic AI chip demand came into play at the same time. CXMT’s reaching the technology level on the HBM3 side opened a new page in the process of closing the gap in China’s memory technologies. While Korean manufacturers remain ahead on the HBM3e and HBM4 side, the Chinese side is simultaneously expanding capacity, capital and domestic customer network to expand HBM3 production.
Comments
You can write your views about this story. Comments may be moderated according to site settings.