Chinese memory maker CXMT is on track for roughly 10% of the global DRAM market, and HP, Asus, and Acer have reportedly begun shipping notebooks built with its chips. Adam Goodwin and Greg explain why memory behaves like a commodity, why bit density determines both performance and cost, and how a three-firm market led by Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron ended up short on supply. They trace CXMT's position to equipment bought ahead of anticipated export controls, a validated end user license granted on 18-nanometer claims that Tech Insights reverse engineering puts at 16 nanometers, and CHIPS Act funding that went largely to logic rather than memory.
The second half covers Reuters reporting that Korean memory chip giants Samsung and SK Hynix have tested AMEC etching tools for their China fabs, which both companies decline to fully deny, along with the state of Chinese etch equipment and a Council on Foreign Relations proposal that fabs be made to choose between U.S. and Chinese tools.
Chapters
1. DRAM and memory Overview (00:10 - 09:18)
2. Existing memory market and CXMT’s rise (09:18 - 13:05)
3. Why firms are turning to CXMT, why is Chinese memory an option, and export controls (13:05 - 19:03)
4. Chinese subsidies, and Congress and Apple are pulling in opposite directions (19:03 - 22:26)
5. Furnishing Korean fabs in China and tension with U.S. government (22:26 - 30:35)
6. Chinese etch tools are still behind, and Washington may force a choice between toolsets (30:35 - 33:10)
