- Memory chipmaker seeks nearly $4.3 billion to expand DRAM and AI memory production
- The listing underscores China’s growing challenge to the global memory chip oligopoly
China’s leading DRAM maker, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), has formally launched its initial public offering on Shanghai’s STAR Market, setting the stage for what could become the exchange’s second-largest listing.
According to its prospectus released on July 9, the company will begin online and offline subscription on July 16 under the stock code 688825.
CXMT plans to issue 6.69 billion new shares, representing 10% of its enlarged share capital, and raise about 29.5 billion yuan ($4.34 billion).
The deal would rank second only to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation’s record 53.2 billion yuan STAR Market IPO in 2020.
If the over-allotment option is fully exercised, the total number of shares issued would increase to 7.69 billion.
From catch-up to global contender
Founded in 2016 in Hefei, capital of Anhui Province, CXMT is mainland China’s only integrated device manufacturer (IDM) producing DRAM chips at commercial scale.
When the company was established, the global DRAM market was dominated by three companies — Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology — leaving China with virtually no domestic production.
Rather than starting with older manufacturing technologies, CXMT pursued a “technology leapfrogging” strategy.
It introduced its first self-designed 8Gb DDR4 DRAM chip in 2019, marking China’s entry into commercial DRAM production.
According to market research firm Omdia, CXMT’s global DRAM market share reached 7.67% by revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025, making it the world’s fourth-largest supplier.
The company’s financial performance has also improved sharply alongside a cyclical recovery in the memory market.
First-quarter revenue surged 719% year on year to 50.8 billion yuan, while net profit reached 24.8 billion yuan, enough to erase all accumulated losses since its founding. It expects first-half revenue of between 110 billion yuan and 120 billion yuan.
Why this matters for global audiences
CXMT’s IPO comes as China’s semiconductor industry shifts from import substitution toward competing directly with established global suppliers.
Industry observers are watching not only the size of the fundraising but also how the proceeds will accelerate capacity expansion and technology upgrades.
According to South Korean media reports, CXMT’s monthly wafer capacity is expected to reach 350,000 wafers by the end of 2026, approaching Micron’s estimated 385,000 wafers per month.
The company aims to expand that figure to 500,000 wafers by 2028.
More strategically, CXMT is preparing to mass-produce High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), a premium memory technology used in AI accelerators and increasingly critical to the global AI supply chain.
As Samsung and SK Hynix dedicate a growing share of their production capacity to HBM, supply of conventional DRAM has tightened, creating an opening for newer entrants such as CXMT.
More than just a listing
If the company succeeds in commercializing HBM at scale, it could become China’s first serious challenger to the long-standing dominance of the three global memory leaders in the AI memory market.
For global semiconductor investors, the IPO represents more than another large Chinese listing.
It signals that China is becoming an increasingly influential force in reshaping the competitive landscape of the global memory industry.
