China’s CXMT says new memory chip platform enters mass production as it takes on global rivals

Beijing-based memory chip manufacturer CXMT announced on Sunday that its fifth-generation technology platform for dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) has entered mass production. DRAM is short-term working memory used in phones, computers, and other devices to run applications and programs. The new platform aims to create more powerful memory chips at lower costs and with reduced power consumption.

CXMT, China's leading producer of DRAM, stated that the new platform packs data storage structures closer together, allowing more memory to fit on each chip and enabling more individual chips to be produced from each silicon wafer. The company reduced the spacing of key features in the memory storage part of the chip to 11.95 nanometres, utilizing "quadruple patterning" to produce finer circuit patterns.

CXMT's vice-president and marketing center head, Luo Xiaodong, said at the 2026 World Manufacturing Convention in Hefei that the company's process capability is now on par with the industry's most advanced mass-produced nodes. The company also unveiled two 24-gigabit LPDDR5X products made using the new platform, which hold 50% more data than its previous equivalents and are already in mass production.

These products are available in two package formats for various smartphone and portable device designs. The platform can produce at least 50% more gross chip dies per wafer than its fourth-generation platform, using an 8-gigabit-chip baseline, which measures the potential number of chips made from a wafer before excluding defective units.

This achievement comes as Beijing seeks to reduce dependence on foreign semiconductor technology, as US export controls since 2022 have restricted China's access to certain advanced chip-making equipment and related software.