While China seeks ways to circumvent US sanctions on advanced EUV lithography machines, the strong demand for AI chips has also presented a significant opportunity for Chinese manufacturers in the memory sector. According to a report in the South Korean press, thanks to strong support from the Beijing administration, the HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) technology gap between China and South Korea has narrowed to approximately three years. At the heart of this progress is CXMT, one of China's leading memory manufacturers. The company is reportedly preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) to accelerate its growth and aims to raise billions of dollars.
Chinese Manufacturers Catch Up to Koreans in HBM3 Technology
According to information reported by Seoul Economic Daily, Chinese manufacturers have reached the same level as South Korean giants like Samsung and SK hynix in HBM3 technology. HBM3 stands out as the third-generation high-performance memory standard used in AI accelerators. This type of memory is also used in NVIDIA H100 GPUs, which are subject to export restrictions by the US to China. For the Chinese market, NVIDIA's developed H20 model features 96 GB of HBM3 memory instead of 80 GB.
Industry sources state that China is generally several generations behind Samsung and SK hynix in memory production technologies, but CXMT has successfully developed HBM3 production technology. It is emphasized that while the company still experiences some issues with production efficiency, it technically possesses the capability to produce HBM3.
CXMT to Match Micron in Production Capacity
With the support of the Chinese government, CXMT is rapidly increasing its production capacity and is expected to reach a monthly production capacity of 300,000 12-inch wafers by the end of 2026. This increase in capacity will bring the company to the same level as US-based Micron, accounting for 14% of the global supply.
Although Chinese manufacturers are approaching the HBM3 level, industry leaders Samsung and SK hynix are working on more advanced next-generation technologies. Currently, HBM3E is used in the newest AI accelerators, while the industry is expected to transition to HBM4 memory towards the end of the year.
HBM4 is considered a significant technological leap, nearly doubling data transfer capacity compared to HBM3. Furthermore, the production of such advanced AI chips requires advanced packaging technologies that only companies like TSMC can provide.
It is also stated that CXMT, aiming to gain a larger share of the growing AI-driven memory demand, has received approval for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise capital. The company is expected to raise over 4 billion dollars through the IPO.
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