The Hefei-based DRAM maker is heading to Shanghai’s STAR Market as AI demand and geopolitical tensions bring new urgency to China’s semiconductor self-sufficiency drive
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Key Takeaways:
- CXMT’s planned 29.5 billion yuan IPO comes as AI demand has turned memory chips into one of the hottest parts of the semiconductor market
- The company has become China’s clear DRAM leader and the world’s fourth biggest supplier, but still trails Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron in scale and customer trust
One of China’s most important semiconductor IPOs this year is not coming from traditional tech hubs in Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzhen. Instead, it’s coming from Hefei, an inland provincial capital better known a generation ago for universities and government offices than its technology.
But that’s been changing over the past two decades, as Hefei becomes one of China’s boldest local-government technology investors, using state capital to build or attract companies in displays, electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, AI, quantum technology and semiconductors. Its best-known bets include names like display maker BOE, EV maker Nio, battery maker Gotion and AI company iFlytek, to name a few.
Now, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is rapidly rising as Hefei’s newest tech giant. Founded in 2016 with government backing, the company is China’s leading maker of DRAM, the working memory used by phones, PCs and servers when they run apps and process data. Last month CXMT was approved to list on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market, where it plans to raise a hefty 29.5 billion yuan ($4.3 billion).
Companies typically list within three to four months after getting such approval. The IPO could become the largest this year on China’s A-share markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen, and one of the biggest ever on the STAR Market since its launch in 2019.
The timing could hardly be better. AI data centers have turned memory from a cyclical commodity into a goldmine due to short supply. Semiconductor stocks are hot. And business for CXMT, like many of its peers, is currently booming. Tencent has reportedly signed a multiyear server-DRAM deal with the company worth more than 20 billion yuan, and Apple is reportedly lobbying Washington for clearance to buy CXMT memory, as soaring costs have forced price increases for some iPads and MacBooks. That means the listing is almost certain to attract huge investor interest, putting the company on the financial markets map as a made-in-China challenger to global leaders Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS), both from South Korea, and Micron Technology (MU.US) from the U.S.
The man behind the company
The man behind CXMT is Zhu Yiming, whose career closely follows China’s chip self-reliance story. Zhu studied at Tsinghua University, a key training ground for China’s semiconductor engineers, founders and policymakers. He later studied at Stony Brook University in New York and worked at U.S. memory chip companies before returning to China in 2005. His reason for coming back was simple: China was becoming one of the world’s largest chip consumers, but still lacked strong domestic memory suppliers.
Zhu’s first major company, GigaDevice (3986.HK; 603986.SH), focused on NOR flash, the small memory chips that help devices store boot code and firmware, and MCUs, the tiny control chips used inside appliances, cars and connected devices.
While GigaDevice proved Zhu could build memory chips, CXMT was a harder second act. DRAM requires huge factories costing billions of dollars, constant process upgrades and durability to survive brutal price cycles. Hefei made that leap possible. When Zhu moved into DRAM, private investors saw the sector as too risky. But Hefei was willing to take the chance, reportedly taking an 80% stake in the first phase of a 150 billion yuan 12-inch wafer project.
That patience is now paying off. CXMT spent years absorbing losses, but the current memory boom has transformed its financial profile overnight. After logging 61.8 billion yuan in revenue last year, the figure reached 50.8 billion yuan in this year’s first quarter alone, along with 24.8 billion yuan in profit.
CXMT is now big enough to land on radar screens of both investors and device makers, but is still far from the top tier. The three leading global incumbents still control more than 90% of the DRAM market, while CXMT’s share was 7.67% in the fourth quarter of 2025, making it the world’s fourth-largest DRAM maker. Its chips have crossed a practical threshold for more mainstream customers, with its DDR and LPDDR products used in servers, PCs, smartphones and other devices.
Distant fourth
But the company still lags its larger rivals in scale, R&D spending, product breadth, international supply-chain depth and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI computing. The company has reportedly faced yield challenges with DDR5, a newer generation of memory used in PCs and servers, showing how hard it is for challengers to close the technology gap.
China’s domestic market gives CXMT its best opening, especially in the country’s current self-reliance drive. Chinese companies buy huge volumes of memory for consumer electronics, cloud computing and now AI servers, but have long depended on foreign suppliers. Tencent’s reported deal shows that one of China’s most important cloud and AI companies is willing to use domestic DRAM as well. Apple’s reported interest would add a different kind of validation, showing that global device makers may also look to CXMT when supply is tight.
The local competitive field is much thinner. Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) is China’s other major memory champion, but it mainly makes NAND flash, which functions like a hard drive for storage in phones, laptops and solid-state drives, rather than DRAM. Fujian Jinhua and Huawei-backed SwaySure are closer in product focus, but both remain far smaller in DRAM. That gives CXMT unusual scarcity value: outside China, it is still chasing the giants. But inside China, there are no comparable alternatives.
Legal and geopolitical risks still hang over the company. DRAM is protected not only by technological barriers, but also by patents and export controls. Fujian Jinhua previously became entangled in Micron-related disputes over patents and allegations of trade secret theft, and was also damaged by U.S. restrictions. CXMT has tried to build a more formal intellectual-property base, including patent licenses for self-developed technology, as well as acquisitions from Qimonda, the former memory unit of Infineon (IFX.DE). But Micron has still warned that CXMT chips might violate some of its patents.
Washington adds another layer of uncertainty. The U.S. has considered adding CXMT to the Commerce Department’s Entity List, which would sharply restrict CXMT’s access to U.S. software, materials and manufacturing technology. But such a move has reportedly been held back for now. Separately, the Pentagon has also designated CXMT as a Chinese military company due to its affiliation with two central government agencies. The same state support that helped CXMT thrive at home could make it harder to win trust abroad.
That is the tension behind the IPO. Hefei helped CXMT survive long enough to profit from the current AI memory boom. Public investors will now decide whether China’s DRAM champion can use that momentum to become a real fourth pillar in the global memory market, or whether it’s destined to thrive only in its protected market at home.
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Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.
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