HP, Asus and Acer started buying Chinese DRAM, and not because it costs less

HP, Asus and Acer have started putting DRAM from China's CXMT into their laptops. Not because it is cheap, but because there is nothing else left to buy.

Three of the world's largest PC makers begin using Chinese memory (Tom's Hardware, 2026-08-04)

출처: tomshardware.com

DRAM is the chip that holds whatever a program is working on while the machine is switched on. Until now it came from three companies and effectively no one else. Samsung, SK hynix and Micron. For anyone building a PC there was nowhere else to shop, so when prices rose the bill was simply paid. What happened this week is that a fourth name entered that arrangement for the first time.

Nothing ships to the United States

The volumes are small and the machines are budget notebooks sold outside the United States. Tom's Hardware reports that the Pentagon lists CXMT among companies tied to the Chinese military, and that lawmakers have been pushing to place the firm on the export blacklist outright. The company denies any military link and is not formally blacklisted yet. Even so, putting these chips into a machine sold in America today could mean pulling that machine back tomorrow.

Watching the holders of 90 percent

Washington is not the only party these PC makers are being careful with. A source quoted by Benzinga gives the temperature of the thing. The top three memory makers hold more than 90 percent of the global market, it is a seller's market, and so nobody dares source too much from CXMT right now. Annoy the party that hands out allocations and next year's share gets smaller.

PC makers quietly take CXMT chips while fearing the memory giants (Benzinga, 2026-08-04)

출처: benzinga.com

That is where the line about price carries its weight. A latecomer who does not undercut is a latecomer who has no reason to. In a market this short, even the newest supplier gets to pick among buyers already queueing. The same logic sits behind reports that CXMT serves domestic customers such as Huawei first.

Eight days from listing to laptops

What LPDDR6 decides in December

The LPDDR6 that CXMT says it will produce by year end is the current standard for phones and thin laptops. Filling a few budget notebooks with an older standard is one thing. Selling the newest standard to Western brands is another. If it stays the first, this adoption is a stopgap that lasts until prices come back down. If it becomes the second, buyers of DRAM will hold a fourth quotation for the first time in the history of this market. Even then those chips will most likely still be missing from anything sold in America. In this market, gaining a supplier and getting a lower price are, for now, two separate questions.