China’s top memory chip maker CXMT narrows tech gap with leaders Samsung, Hynix, Micron

The Hefei-based firm’s latest DDR5 memory chips use a 16nm node process, breaking through a limit that Washington sought to impose with sanctions

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The latest DDR5 memory chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies are using a 16-nanometre node process. Photo: CXMT

Published: 5:30pm, 30 Jan 2025

ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China’s leading producer of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, has advanced its manufacturing technology to 16 nanometres, narrowing the gap with industry giants Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology.

The Hefei-based company has developed a consumer-grade chip using the advanced chipmaking node, a notable achievement amid ongoing US sanctions, according to a report from Canadian integrated circuits (IC) research firm TechInsights. The new 16-gigabit (Gb) chip employs DDR5 technology, which is expected to dominate the DRAM market through 2027.

Measuring about 67 square millimetres, the chip achieves a storage density of 0.239Gb per square millimetre, according to the report. CXMT’s latest G4 DRAM technology features memory cells that are 20 per cent smaller than those in its previous G3 technology node.

CXMT has made “significant progress” since its G1 generation node of 23nm and G2 of 18nm, bringing it much closer to its global rivals in South Korea and the US, according to the report.

CXMT’s 16Gb DDR5 chip found in the Gloway DDR5-6000 UDIMM. Photo: TechInsights

The company’s advancements serve as a benchmark for China’s progress in DRAM memory chips despite US sanctions.