China's CXMT No Longer Relies on Low Prices! Soaring Demand Pushes Memory Quotes Above Samsung, Even Huawei Can't Get Discounts

Previously, the market widely believed that China's memory manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) would emerge as an affordable alternative to Samsung, SK Hynix (SKHY-US), and Micron (MU-US), competing primarily on price. However, market realities have diverged sharply from this expectation. CXMT's true competitive advantage lies not in low pricing, but in its ability to deliver—'having supply to ship.' Amid rapidly rising global memory demand, this Chinese player now finds itself at the forefront of a price surge.

According to Reuters, CXMT's 64GB DDR5 module pricing has clearly surpassed Samsung's unit price of approximately $1,240, a level that was already considered premium.

Notably, this price increase does not pertain to consumer PC DDR5 memory, but to server-grade RDIMM modules. CXMT's products in this category have already achieved a data transfer rate of 8,000 MT per second.

Supply shortages have also spread across China's domestic market, with even local PC manufacturers scrambling to secure CXMT's DRAM capacity. Order schedules are reportedly booked out as far as 2027.

Rising prices are now pressuring China's AI and tech sectors, with some companies forced to delay new product launches due to increased costs.

Even Huawei, China's tech giant, has not been spared. Market reports indicate that Huawei requested CXMT to hold off on price hikes, but CXMT refused to compromise. Despite this, both parties continue to maintain their existing partnership.

In terms of market share, CXMT currently ranks fourth globally in the DRAM market, with a share between 8% and 10%, trailing behind Micron Technology (~24%), SK Hynix (~29%), and Samsung (~36%).

Despite its current position at the bottom, CXMT shows no signs of slowing its expansion. The company is actively preparing for a landmark initial public offering (IPO) and continues to invest heavily in building new wafer fabrication plants to secure future capacity.

On the customer front, CXMT has signed long-term supply agreements (LTAs) with major Chinese tech firms such as ByteDance and Alibaba (09988-HK).

Earlier market rumors suggested Apple (AAPL-US) had considered adding CXMT to its supply chain as an alternative source. However, with CXMT's capacity already locked in by multi-year contracts and its pricing now on par with—or even exceeding—the three major players, this potential collaboration now faces greater uncertainty.