China’s CXMT begins LPDDR6 mass production, beating Samsung and SK Hynix to market

Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies has begun mass production of LPDDR6 DRAM chips and will supply them for Xiaomi's upcoming 18 Fold foldable smartphone, the companies announced Saturday on China's Weibo social media platform. The device, scheduled for release in September, is set to become the first smartphone in the world to feature next-generation LPDDR6 memory.reuters+1

A Rapid Leap in Memory Technology

CXMT reached LPDDR6 mass production less than a year after it began volume production of previous-generation LPDDR5 chips, according to Reuters. The achievement narrows the Chinese company's technology gap with global DRAM leaders Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix ↗ 8.14%, and Micron Technology ↗ 6.10%, all of which have announced LPDDR6 but have not yet brought it to commercial devices.sammyfans+1

The Xiaomi 18 Fold will pair CXMT's LPDDR6 memory with Xiaomi's in-house 3-nanometer Xring O3 processor, which the company unveiled on August 24. CXMT's LPDDR6 implementation runs at 10,667 MT/s with the Xring O3 and can reach up to 12,800 MT/s, while the full LPDDR6 standard supports speeds of up to 14,400 MT/s. Xiaomi founder Lei Jun confirmed the partnership via his own Weibo account, and the Xiaomi Pad 9 Pro Max is also expected to launch with the same chip and memory combination.notebookcheck+1

Strong Earnings and a Pentagon Lawsuit

The supply deal caps a busy stretch for CXMT. On Friday, the Hefei-based company reported its first earnings since going public, posting a sharp swing to profit in the first half of 2026 as revenue surged 874% year-over-year to 150.3 billion yuan ($22.36 billion). The company also disclosed it had shipped LPDDR6 samples for use in mobile devices, servers, and smart vehicles.reuters

Also on Friday, CXMT filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense over its inclusion on a list of companies Washington says are linked to China's military. The Pentagon declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. The suit comes amid continuing U.S.-China tensions over advanced semiconductor technology, with Washington imposing restrictions aimed at limiting China's access to sophisticated chips and chipmaking equipment.investing+1

Broader Industry Implications

The partnership gives CXMT a high-profile commercial showcase at a time when demand for advanced memory is rising sharply, driven in part by on-device artificial intelligence workloads. Qualcomm's ↗ 0.10% upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is also expected to support LPDDR6, though it will likely use memory from SK Hynix, Samsung, or Micron. Apple ↘ 2.51% is reportedly negotiating DRAM pricing with CXMT for iPhones sold in China, a move that could further reshape the global memory supply chain.businessupturn+2