Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT), the Chinese state-backed memory chipmaker, has grown powerful enough to push back against even Huawei, semiconductor analyst Jukan reports. When Huawei balked at a CXMT price increase, CXMT reportedly responded by pulling Huawei's own engineers out of its fab, a sign of just how much leverage the memory maker now holds over a customer as large and influential as Huawei. Reuters has also reported that CXMT is now pricing its memory chips above Samsung Electronics, once considered the industry's price-setter, according to Jukan. Separately, three sources tell Reuters that CXMT wants to eventually sell into the US market too, though for now its production capacity is stretched thin just keeping up with demand inside China. CXMT makes DRAM, the everyday memory chip used in phones, PCs, and servers, and has been one of the main forces squeezing global memory supply this year, a dynamic that's helped drive up prices for Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron alike. That CXMT can now out-price Samsung and strong-arm Huawei suggests the balance of power in memory chips is shifting faster than expected, even as the broader industry narrative has been about scarcity lifting everyone's margins together.
Why it matters · If a Chinese newcomer can out-price Samsung and push around Huawei, the memory 'shortage lifts everyone' story may be turning into a real competitive threat to incumbents.
Worth asking · CXMT now out-prices Samsung and can push back on Huawei. Is this just one Chinese supplier's moment, or the start of a real threat to Samsung and SK hynix's pricing power?