Why has this Chinese company, founded in 2016, suddenly become one of the chip firms attracting worldwide attention?','tags':['company growth','chip industry']
Last week, the name of ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) appeared repeatedly across global media following two nearly simultaneous events. Apple announced it is testing CXMT's DRAM chips for devices sold in China and is lobbying the U.S. government to allow broader use of the company's chips amid a global memory chip shortage.
Most recently, CXMT announced plans for an official IPO next week on Shanghai's STAR Market, aiming to raise at least 29.5 billion yuan (around $4.34 billion), potentially exceeding $5 billion if the overallotment option is exercised. This would mark the largest IPO in China this year and the biggest since CNOOC's offshore oil company listing in 2022.
Chinese chipmakers have garnered significant investor interest following a series of IPOs among companies in the AI industry supply chain, ranging from circuit board manufacturers to AI model developers, all racing to raise funds to meet market demand and enhance competitiveness.
For years, China has depended almost entirely on foreign memory chips, especially the DRAM market dominated by three leaders: Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix from South Korea, and Micron from the U.S. However, the tech war between China and the U.S. has pushed Beijing to accelerate self-reliant AI supply chains. CXMT is one of the companies selected as a "champion" of this mission.
CXMT was founded in 2016 by Zhu Yiming, founder of GigaDevice, who returned from Silicon Valley to collaborate with the Hebei city government to build China's chip manufacturing capacity and reduce import dependence. In 2019, the company acquired key patents from Qimonda, the bankrupt German DRAM manufacturer, which SemiAnalysis identifies as foundational to CXMT's DRAM technology.
Reports indicate CXMT maintains close ties with ASML, the Dutch lithography equipment maker. ASML's DUV machines remain central to CXMT's production lines, despite China's attempts to develop domestic machinery. Because CXMT is not on the U.S. Entity List, it can still purchase authorized equipment from ASML.
Analysts agree that part of CXMT's success stems from strong support by the Hebei local government, including land acquisition, funding, subsidies, and attracting suppliers and customers to establish a semiconductor cluster around the company.
Between 2023 and 2025, CXMT has received at least 6 billion yuan (approximately $880 million) in government subsidies. Currently, at least 15 state-owned shareholders hold about 36% of the company's shares.
In just ten years, CXMT has risen from near obscurity to become the world's fourth-largest DRAM chipmaker, after SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Micron, positioning itself as a core element of China's AI supply chain strategy to achieve self-reliance.
The rising AI demand has boosted not only Nvidia's GPU value but also caused a global shortage of DRAM, the main memory for AI servers, turning it into a highly sought-after component. This has rapidly improved CXMT's financial standing.
Since late 2025, DRAM revenue across the industry has surged due to AI trends, led by Samsung, followed by SK Hynix and Micron. Notably, CXMT's revenue, which was nearly zero in 2022, has grown significantly.
In Q1 this year, CXMT posted revenue of 50.8 billion yuan (about $7.5 billion), a 700% increase year-on-year, and net profit of 33 billion yuan (about $4.85 billion), according to its IPO prospectus. This reversed over 37 billion yuan (about $5.4 billion) in accumulated losses over the past decade, making it one of China's most profitable chip companies.
Data from SemiAnalysis indicates CXMT is the fastest-growing player in the DRAM industry and is poised to become the "fourth pole" in the global memory chip market in the coming years if production expansion proceeds as planned.
Currently, CXMT accounts for about 11% of global DRAM wafer production capacity in 2025, expected to rise to 15% by 2028 as new factories in Hebei, Shanghai, and Beijing come online. These figures show that while CXMT remains smaller than competitors, it has the highest growth rate, marking the first time in several years that a new player has gained significant market share.
CXMT's momentum also stems from interest by Western tech giant Apple, which typically relies on Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron for memory chips. However, the rapid increase in AI-driven memory demand has led these producers to allocate much of their capacity to AI and data center markets.
As a result, DRAM supply for electronic devices has tightened and costs have risen, prompting Apple to test CXMT's chips for products sold in China and to petition U.S. officials for approval to purchase CXMT chips, despite the company's presence on the U.S. Department of Defense blacklist. For CXMT, Apple's interest is not just about sales but also serves as a "seal of approval" that its technology is gaining global recognition.
CXMT plans to offer 6.688 billion shares, with half allocated to cornerstone investors, along with an overallotment option that could raise the total offering to 7.69 billion shares, roughly 11.3% of total shares.
The company has scheduled investor subscriptions for 16 July, according to stock exchange filings, targeting 29.5 billion yuan (approximately $4.34 billion) to fund wafer fabrication capacity expansion and upgrade DRAM production technology to enhance competitiveness globally.
Analysts project CXMT's market value could reach 3 trillion yuan (about $440 billion) post-IPO. If successful, it would be China's largest IPO since CNOOC raised $5.1 billion in 2022 and the largest in Asia since CATL's $5.3 billion fundraise in May 2025.
CXMT's IPO will also serve as a crucial test of investor confidence in China's semiconductor industry amid Beijing's multi-billion-dollar push to develop strategic technologies and reduce foreign technology reliance amid geopolitical pressures.
Given its size, CXMT is expected to become one of the most valuable companies listed on China's stock markets. However, some investors worry that such a large IPO might signal a peak similar to previous Chinese stock market highs, which often coincided with listings of large companies.
CXMT's market debut is not merely another major fundraising event but a demonstration that China can build a world-class memory chip company despite U.S. sanctions and that the global memory chip market is evolving from a triopoly to include a new serious Chinese contender.
Source Information Bloomberg , Financial Times
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