- 0-20%: Unlikely – Lacks credible sources
- 21-40%: Questionable – Some concerns remain
- 41-60%: Plausible – Reasonable evidence
- 61-80%: Probable – Strong evidence
- 81-100%: Highly Likely – Multiple reliable sources
The global DRAM market is currently dominated by Samsung, SK hynix and Micron, but Chinese manufacturer CXMT is slowly chipping away at their share with the introduction of newer and more advanced memory standards. More importantly, the firm is now said to partner up with another local company, GigaDevice, as it plans to fill the gaping hole left behind by Samsung, as the latter is said to drop out of the LPDDR4 and LPDDR4X business, leaving customers with a bad taste in their mouth.
Despite LPDDR4 RAM bringing in fewer margins, China’s DRAM manufacturers can establish long-term business relationships for future orders, while Samsung targets profitability
Samsung is only said to fulfill LPDDR4 and LPDDR4X orders for customers who have yet to receive their shipments, but succeeding orders will no longer be entertained as the company focuses towards raising LPDDR5 and LPDDR5X production as it prioritizes profitability. CXMT and YMTC have been removed from the Pentagon’s restricted companies list, allowing both manufacturers to boost their clientele list in the middle of a DRAM crisis.
According to ETNews, GigaDevice will reportedly enter into an agreement with CXMT to purchase $825 million worth of DRAM, making it six times higher than the amount last year, which was $173.2 million. Under this partnership, CXMT will handle manufacturing while GigaDevice will be tasked with distribution and product development. With this partnership, GigaDevice can significantly expand into the development and selling of DDR3, DDR4, and LPDDR4 memory based on CXMT technology.
This tag-team will likely be witnessed as a godsend for tons of customers, including smartphone and chipset markets, who relied on Samsung for its LPDDR4 and LPDDR4X memory to use in their products. Despite the older-generation RAM being in production for eight to 10 years, Qualcomm, MediaTek and even Samsung utilize these chips in their less powerful SoCs, which are then found in entry-level and mid-range smartphones.
With Samsung said to be halting production and moving to LPDDR5 and LPDDR5X production, the aforementioned customers would have no choice but to integrate the newer memory standard into their products, which takes time and energy to finish. Additionally, the same handsets that previously shipped with LPDDR4X memory will now ship with either LPDDR5 or LPDDR5X RAM, bringing faster bandwidth to the table in exchange for a higher price.
Some buyers may not want to fork over the premium, and those who already purchased the models with the slower LPDDR4 or LPDDR4X RAM will likely feel betrayed. CXMT has already demonstrated that it can technologically stand ‘toe to toe’ with the rest of the DRAM manufacturers, as it has not only sold Lenovo the newer LPCAMM2 modules, but its domestically produced DDR5 memory can reach an impressive bandwidth of 8,000MT/s.
While GigaDevice and CXMT entering into LPDDR4 and LPDDR4X production won’t guarantee these companies’ skyrocketing profits, it can solidify a potential partnership with a multitude of customers that Samsung abandoned, opening several doors that enable China to become a leading player in the DRAM space.
News Source: ETNews
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech’s mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
