Top Chinese memory maker expected to abandon DDR4 manufacturing at the behest of Beijing
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Top Chinese DRAM manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) will reportedly phase out DDR4 memory for servers and PCs by the middle of next year. According to Digitimes, the company is making this sudden shift to accommodate the directives of the Chinese Communist Party, especially as Beijing is pushing the country to take the global lead in AI and cloud infrastructure. In line with this, CXMT is also believed to be prioritizing work on HBM technology, targeting validation of its HBM3 chips by late this year.
This announcement caught many in the industry off guard, especially as the company had just begun mass production of DDR4 memory in late 2024. This ramp-up in capacity, paired with aggressive pricing, has caused leading memory manufacturers Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix to end production of DDR3 and DDR4 chips by late 2025.
But as the Chinese government focuses on AI to compete against the U.S.'s technological supremacy, Beijing is likely directing its local tech giants to give their support. Because of this, industry analysts anticipate CXMT issuing an end-of-life notice for its DDR4 as early as the third quarter of this year. Despite that, DD4 supply has seemingly dried up, with some 8 GB chips jumping in price by 150% because of the lack of supply.
The overall market is heading towards DDR5 production to accommodate the demand for newer devices, but a few DDR4 manufacturing lines will remain. DigiTimes Asia says that CXMT will keep making it for GigaDevice to satisfy demand for consumer memory, while Samsung and SK hynix will keep on producing them using 1z-nm nodes. That means they do not require EUV tools, which are better utilized to produce newer chips.
Despite CXMT's success in DDR4 memory, its DDR5 chips reportedly still face some issues. It's been reported that some of its latest samples have failed some tests, with the memory chips becoming unstable when they hit 60 degrees Celsius and up, some 25 degrees lower than the up to 85 degrees Celsius that Samsung chips can operate in. There's also doubt whether CXMT's DDR5 memory would perform as expected in sub-zero temperatures. This likely would not be an issue with most users, though.
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