China's CXMT Verifies Prototype for 4F²-Based 6th-Gen DRAM, Eyes Gradual Mass Production

▲ CXMT factory

China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), which is challenging the DRAM memory market dominated by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, has disclosed detailed progress regarding its much-discussed "4F²" (four F-squared) architecture.

According to Chinese media outlets including The Paper and the Global Times on November 1, CXMT announced for the first time during its third-quarter earnings release and statement on October 30 that it has completed engineering sample (ES) verification for its 6th-generation DRAM process platform based on the 4F² architecture.

Engineering samples refer to prototypes lent to original design manufacturers (ODMs) and others for testing prior to commercial release, and completing verification for them is widely accepted in the industry as a major step toward commercialization.

CXMT explained that the successful verification means the platform has achieved its core performance targets on actual wafers, and that it can now move toward mass production following client-side verification.

CXMT claimed that it is the first company to complete such verification and that, if development proceeds smoothly, it will become the world's first to bring a 4F²-based product to market.

"We expect to be able to send samples of our first server memory product utilizing the 4F² architecture, the DDR5 RDIMM, to clients by the end of this year," CXMT stated. "We will first apply it to high-value-added and high-density products such as servers, and then gradually expand to other product lines."

"Mass production will be pursued gradually in line with client verification progress and market demand," it added. "Objectively speaking, the new product is more relevant to building medium- to long-term competitiveness and cannot be entirely converted into immediate short-term profits."

Previously, CXMT CEO Cao Kanyu stated at an event last month that the company plans to release DDR5 RDIMMs using 4F² by the end of the year, drawing enough attention that some interpretations suggested it caused global semiconductor stock prices to drop.

In wafer manufacturing processes, the minimum feature size (interval) achievable through photolithography technology is called "F," meaning that 4F² indicates the size of a single memory cell is four times F-squared.

While the current mainstream DRAM architecture is 6F², advancing from 6F² to 4F² increases the number of transistors per unit area and raises memory integration density.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have been pursuing such technologies to improve memory integration density. SK Hynix recently stated in an earnings call that while it will make maximum use of the 6F² platform—whose mass-production stability and cost competitiveness have been verified—it also plans to concurrently develop technologies for a future transition to 4F².

Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg and Reuters, CXMT announced in its first earnings report since its initial public offering (IPO) that its third-quarter revenue surged 613% year-on-year to 118.7 billion yuan (approx. 23.8 trillion won).

However, revenue rose 19.3% compared to the previous quarter, slowing down from the previous quarter's growth of over 90%, which raised concerns over whether the pace of semiconductor price increases is sustainable.

Third-quarter net income (net income attributable to shareholders of the parent company) turned to a profit of 54.4 billion yuan (approx. 10.9 trillion won).

This figure represents a 3% increase from the previous quarter.

Morningstar analyst Jing Zhiwei noted, "Some 30 to 40 percent of global memory demand still comes from consumer electronics," predicting that CXMT's pricing power will be limited by pushback from consumer electronics buyers, leading its performance over the next few quarters to show stability rather than explosive growth.

Industry analyst Xiang Ligang pointed out that while CXMT's revenue growth is largely thanks to rising global memory prices, the current high profitability will not last indefinitely.

For the January–September period, total revenue increased 738.5% year-on-year to 269 billion yuan (approx. 54 trillion won), and net income swung from a loss of 5.28 billion yuan (approx. 1 trillion won) in the same period last year to a profit of 132 billion yuan (approx. 26.5 trillion won).

Amid US-China technological competition and China's push for semiconductor self-reliance, CXMT's research and development (R&D) spending for the first nine months rose 73% year-on-year to 11 billion yuan (approx. 2.2 trillion won).

CXMT stated that it is already in long-term supply discussions with multiple major clients, through which it is securing stable demand over the medium to long term.

Boosted by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, the company expects DRAM supply shortages to persist through the fourth quarter and its revenue to continue growing, forecasting that AI, smart terminals, and smart cars will remain key growth drivers next year.

Previously, CXMT raised up to 66.61 billion yuan (approx. 13.3 trillion won) through its July IPO, with its stock surging on its debut to rank first in market capitalization on the mainland stock market.

CXMT officialized the mass production of its next-generation mobile DRAM, LPDDR6, in August, and announced last month that it had entered mass production for its 5th-generation DRAM process.

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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