US export curbs on advanced memory have pushed China to build its own high-bandwidth supply chain, and that effort now appears to be producing its first testable chips. ChangXin Memory Technologies has started turning out HBM3E in small quantities, with Alibaba’s T-Head unit and Cambricon evaluating the parts against their own AI processors, The Information reported.
Output volumes, yields and specifications have not been disclosed, and CXMT has not confirmed the work. The company intends to scale up production substantially next year, which could put the memory in Chinese AI systems as early as 2027 if validation stays on track.
The reported milestone lands roughly two years after SK hynix began mass-producing HBM3E, and the leaders have not stood still. Samsung and SK hynix are already sampling HBM4E, and analysts put CXMT three to five years behind on technology and yields.
CXMT plans to spend part of the $8.6B raised in its Shanghai listing last month on extra capacity, betting that domestic demand is large enough to justify the catch-up. Alibaba and Cambricon are natural first customers, with orders that could give CXMT the production experience it lacks.
ASML’s Mark Calderhead described the progress as a major step for China’s chip supply chain, while cautioning that the country still trails Korean producers now shipping next-generation memory samples.
