Chinese memory firm CXMT relied on leaked Samsung technology to skip years of R&D, court testimony claims
That origin story came directly from a former Samsung Electronics engineer surnamed Jeon, according to Maeil Business. The veteran employee spent almost three decades at Samsung before jumping to the rival firm around 2016. Jeon appeared in a Seoul courtroom this past week to testify under oath about those early... Read Entire Article
A Chinese memory chip manufacturer, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), is accused of bypassing years of research and development by utilizing leaked technology from Samsung Electronics. According to testimony given by a former Samsung engineer, Jeon, in a South Korean courtroom, CXMT lacked essential laboratory facilities and did not intend to conduct independent research upon its founding in 2016.
Instead, the startup allegedly sought to acquire a highly confidential "Process Recipe Plan" from Samsung, a document containing 600 specific manufacturing steps to guide engineers during production. This plan was developed over five years and cost Samsung over a billion dollars. CXMT reportedly recruited numerous former Samsung employees to steal this information, leading to a rapid increase in its production capacity from 40,000 to 720,000 wafers within just a few years.
This has placed CXMT in direct competition with US memory chip giant Micron. South Korean authorities have taken action against the company, indicting ten individuals for illegally leaking protected national technologies and sentencing former Samsung engineer Jeon to seven years in prison for his involvement. Legal experts suggest that Samsung might leverage this case by presenting sworn statements directly to the US International Trade Commission, which has the authority to halt foreign products from entering the American market.
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