Leading PC manufacturers considering using Chinese memory chips, report claims — HP and Dell qualifying CXMT DRAM, Acer and Asus asking Chinese partners to source locally-made memory chips
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The ongoing memory chip shortage is forcing leading PC makers to consider sources outside of the traditional big three suppliers — Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix. According to Nikkei, sources say that Dell and HP have started qualifying DRAM from CXMT, while Acer and Asus are asking their Chinese partners to source Chinese-made memory chips — a departure from the usual, where manufacturers would source key components like processors, GPUs, screens, and memory, while the contract partners handled less critical parts and final assembly.
AI tech companies have been pouring money into AI infrastructure build-outs, with the major memory manufacturers allocating more of their production lines to the more lucrative HBM. This means that manufacturing capacity for the more price-sensitive consumer market has gone down, with not enough memory chips getting delivered to satisfy global demand. This is where Chinese memory chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and NAND chip manufacturer Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. (YMTC) come in, with the two companies reportedly increasing their output to fill the gap in consumer demand.
Although HP and Dell are already qualifying CXMT’s chips, that does not mean that they’ll automatically order memory modules from them. Still, the two companies are reportedly doing that to give them alternative sources should the memory shortage continue well beyond the second half of this year. Although GPU vendor Sapphire predicts that DRAM prices will stabilize by then, it’s still wise for manufacturers to have a fallback position in case the situation does not improve.
CXMT isn’t banned in the U.S., although it’s facing scrutiny after the U.S. Department of Defense added it to its list of companies suspected of aiding the Chinese military. There have been allegations that ex-Samsung employees stole 10nm DRAM tech and leaked it to the Chinese company. Aside from that, businesses must consider the specter of tariffs, too; although the U.S. And China agreed on a one-year truce, there’s no telling what will happen once that agreement expires. Still, the memory chip supply instability means that companies might be willing to take these risks, as not having the memory chips they need to launch new products and keep prices in check might even be more damaging in the short term.
Asus, Dell, and HP did not comment on the Nikkei story, although sources cited say that HP will only put the CXMT chips in devices for non-U.S. Markets. On the other hand, Acer said to the publication, “We do not disclose our suppliers, but we keep in close contact with multiple global manufacturers and suppliers to dynamically adjust operations to manage component price changes. We work with multiple manufacturers and suppliers to enhance our supply chain resilience.”
