September 2 – Per South Korean media ZDNet Korea, China’s top two storage firms – Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) and ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) – have partnered to jointly develop DRAM and HBM (High-Bandwidth Memory) products. This "NAND+DRAM" cross-sector synergy is viewed as a key step for domestic high-performance storage to break overseas monopolies.
The pair complements each other technologically for HBM: CXMT provides foundational DRAM chips, while YMTC contributes its core hybrid bonding technology (iterated into the mature Xtacking process). This tech enables direct copper-to-copper chip-layer connections (reducing thickness, boosting speed and heat dissipation), has been used in multi-generation NAND flash (and adopted by Samsung for 3D NAND), and will accelerate domestic HBM R&D.
The collaboration comes as Trump’s equipment export restrictions block Samsung and SK hynix from shipping U.S.-made new gear to their Chinese factories. Currently, the global HBM market is monopolized by Samsung, SK hynix (over 50% combined share, mass-producing 12-layer HBM3E) and Micron (21.5% DRAM share, aiming for 25% by end-2025) – creating a breakthrough window for Chinese players.
In progress: CXMT plans to mass-produce 4th-gen HBM3 in 2026 (with faster-than-expected catch-up despite a gap with overseas HBM3E). Huawei has also launched high-performance data center AI SSDs, forming "chip+terminal" synergy with the two firms to improve the domestic storage chain.
TrendForce data shows Samsung, SK hynix and Micron held 94% of the global DRAM market in Q1 2025, leaving urgent room for Chinese players. YMTC and CXMT’s partnership targets this bottleneck: using mature hybrid bonding to lower HBM barriers and "NAND+DRAM" synergy to fill domestic storage’s last gap.
YMTC and CXMT’s collaboration marks domestic storage’s shift from "individual efforts" to "ecosystem synergy." ICgoodFind will keep tracking their HBM R&D and mass production to support the domestic storage chain’s growth.
ICgoodFind：YMTC and CXMT’s team-up is a game-changer for China’s HBM goals. We’ll monitor how this synergy narrows the gap with global leaders and strengthens the domestic storage ecosystem.
