The question of memory prices is on everyone's lips... except, perhaps, China's, given the Asian giant's perceptible rise to power.
Today, while there are more than a dozen memory chip manufacturers, the market is essentially down to three companies that could be called the "majors" of the sector. There's the American Micron, and two South Korean companies, Samsung and SK Hynix. For many years, these three names ruled the industry with their innovations, production and price wars. But those days are over.
In order to increase their margins, these three giants have effectively decided to switch part of their production from DDR3 to DDR4, then from DDR4 to DDR5 and, today, from DDR5 to HBM, the high-bandwidth memory much sought-after by the entire artificial intelligence sector. A sector that doesn't hesitate to fall back on DDR5 when HBM runs out... but now, it's the two king categories that are in short supply. Artificial intelligence is gobbling up mind-boggling quantities of DRAM chips, and despite heavy production, Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix are unable to supply the demand.
CXMT presented DDR5-8000 and LPDDR5X-10667 models © CXMT
What if the solution came from China? Initially focused on the crumbs left by the three giants who focused on DDR3 and then DDR4 when Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix decided to abandon them, Chinese companies are gaining momentum... and confidence. The latest example comes from the China International Semiconductor Expo held in Beijing last weekend, where CXMT presented 16 Gb and 24 Gb DDR5 modules capable of reaching speeds of 8,000 MT/s, on a par with the best chips from our three majors. CXMT is being pushed by the Chinese government, which wants to see its industry gain credibility.
CXMT is winning, and that's saying something, because alongside this DDR5-8000, the Chinese brand has also presented LPDDR5X in 12 Gb and 16 Gb versions, capable of speeds of 10,667 MT/s, which puts the best of Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix in the shade. For the moment, there's no question of Chinese companies entering the HBM segment, but who knows. What's more, CXMT seems to be reserving its new models for the Chinese market alone, no doubt until Beijing decides to come and cut the historical giants some slack.
