Investing.com — Apple Inc () is testing memory chips from Chinese state-backed ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) for devices sold in China, a move that highlights the country’s growing capabilities in memory semiconductors despite ongoing U.S. technology restrictions, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The report said Apple is also leading efforts among U.S. technology companies to persuade Washington to allow broader use of CXMT’s products, although the company has not yet committed to using the chips commercially.
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The interest marks a significant turnaround for CXMT, which has evolved from a heavily subsidised domestic chipmaker into the world’s fourth-largest producer of DRAM memory chips behind Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology.
According to the report, CXMT accounted for about 11% of global DRAM wafer capacity last year, with that share expected to increase to 15% by 2028 as new production lines come online in Hefei, Shanghai and Beijing.
The report said longer term, rivals are increasingly concerned that sustained state-backed investment could allow Chinese producers to replicate the rapid capacity expansion seen in industries such as electric vehicles and solar panels, eventually putting downward pressure on global memory prices.
CXMT is preparing for a domestic initial public offering that analysts estimate could value the company at as much as 3 trillion yuan. The company plans to use the proceeds to expand manufacturing capacity, develop next-generation DRAM technologies and accelerate its push into high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, used in AI accelerators.
