Chinese memory maker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is reportedly closing the manufacturing gap with Samsung on DDR5 DRAM. A recent Chinese media report says the company has pushed yields on its 17nm-class DDR5 process past 90%. That would put it just a couple of percentage points behind Samsung’s reported 92–93% on similar-generation chips.
Yield rate is basically the percentage of good, usable chips that come out of each production run. Higher yields mean lower costs and more reliable supply, so if the number holds up, it’s a solid step forward for CXMT. Earlier reports suggested the company was struggling with lower yields on DDR5, and some people in the industry even thought it had skipped the 17nm node entirely and gone straight to 16nm. The latest claims could mean either better results on an existing process or just some difference in how the nodes are being described.
CXMT’s chips have already started showing up in a few commercial products. Acer and Asus are using the memory in select notebook models, mostly ones sold in China and other emerging markets. HP is reportedly using CXMT DRAM exclusively for units headed to the Chinese market, while Dell has apparently steered clear so far. The overall volumes and number of models are still pretty limited. Most big PC brands are still cautious about moving significant volume away from the established suppliers.
Samsung, SK hynix and Micron still dominate the global DRAM market, controlling more than 90 percent of revenue according to recent Counterpoint data. CXMT’s share is much smaller, even though its revenue has been growing quickly. Its process technology also still lags the denser nodes used by the top three, which give better bit density and power efficiency. That said, getting mature yields on a mainstream DDR5 node would make it easier for CXMT to supply the domestic market and handle some selective export volumes.
This is happening while the global memory market remains tight, largely because of heavy AI-related demand. CXMT isn’t in a position to challenge the leaders at scale yet, or on the most advanced products like high-bandwidth memory. But better manufacturing efficiency is still a meaningful move toward becoming a more consistent supplier. The real test will be whether these reported yields hold up once production ramps to higher volumes.
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