Several Chinese memory module manufacturers have begun producing DDR5 products aimed at enthusiasts using ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) chips. The company has not made public statements about working with DDR5, but if it really has mass production of such chips, then with sufficiently high production volumes CXMT can have some impact on the market.
Image source: cxmt.com
CXMT’s DDR5 memory is manufactured using its own G3 process technology with a line width of 17.5 nm, ZDNet Korea claims, citing its own sources. The yield of suitable products, according to experts surveyed by the resource, is about 80%, although they did not specify which chips they studied. The first reports of SDRAM DDR5 chips from CXMT appeared in 2022 – then the 17 nm process technology was reported. According to TechInsights analysts, the Chinese manufacturer uses G4 technology to produce SDRAM DDR5.
KingBank and Gloway companies have released 32 GB DDR5 modules on chips labeled as “domestic”. The chip manufacturer is not explicitly mentioned, but CXMT is known to be the most advanced DRAM manufacturer in China. In mid-November, CXMT and Fujian Jinhua began selling DDR4 memory at a 50% discount, cheaper than used chips. If CXMT has now started producing DDR5, it is important to understand what the company’s plans are: flood the market with cheap chips to gain its share, or work for maximum profits.
It’s not easy to determine now whether the company is capable of flooding the market with cheap chips. It has impressive production capacity, but it is not clear how much of it will work on the open market; The main goal of Chinese manufacturers is to satisfy local demand, including from government customers. If CXMT does take market share away from Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix in China, those companies will be forced to launch DDR5 in other regions, increasing competition and driving down prices. This would be good news for the consumer and not so good news for the three largest companies, which have established a kind of truce and abandoned price wars.