Changxin Memory Technologies, China's largest memory chipmaker, has already begun small-scale production of HBM3E, an advanced high-bandwidth memory product, according to reports.
The Information, a technology news outlet, reported the development on the 31st of last month, citing multiple sources, saying CXMT plans to ramp up production volumes in earnest starting next year. The company is seen as having narrowed the technology gap to just one generation behind products already in mass production at the memory "Big Three" — Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron.
Chinese fabless companies including T-Head, Alibaba's chip design unit, and Cambricon Technologies are testing CXMT's HBM3E on processors they developed in-house, the sources said. If plans proceed on schedule, related products could reach the market as early as the beginning of next year.
Orders from fabless firms will give CXMT a foothold to accumulate the production know-how and customer feedback essential to mass-producing HBM, The Information said. The outlet added that the timing — with HBM demand higher than ever on the back of the artificial intelligence boom — could make this a watershed moment for China's semiconductor industry as a whole.
The external environment surrounding CXMT remains difficult, however. The United States has restricted exports of advanced HBM to China since 2024, and Chinese companies must obtain prior approval from the U.S. government even to purchase lower-specification memory. CXMT's efforts to expand HBM production capacity are also constrained by U.S. rules barring it from buying the advanced foreign equipment used by industry leaders. Technologically, CXMT has yet to resolve low yield rates, and its gap with the leading players in HBM is estimated at three to five years.
SK hynix, part of Nvidia's core supply chain, began mass production of HBM3E back in 2024. SK hynix, Samsung Electronics and Micron have since moved to mass production of HBM4, a generation ahead, and have begun supplying samples of HBM4E, an ultra-high-speed version slated for release next year.
T-Head and Cambricon are aware that CXMT's HBM products lag those of the Big Three in reliability and speed, but are continuing research to secure compatibility with their own processors, according to the report.
