Chinese memory outfits CXMT and YMTC want the Fruity Cargo Cult Apple’s badge without the bother of supplying it at scale.
CXMT and YMTC have little interest in becoming major memory suppliers for Job’s Mob, but are very interested in being associated with the outfit. The idea appears to be less about volume and more about waving an Apple qualification at nervous Western customers.
CXMT makes DRAM, while YMTC is China’s NAND flash champion. Both are being pushed along by Beijing’s drive to achieve at least 50 per cent self-sufficiency in memory chips by the end of 2027 or 2028.
YMTC has been profitable since 2024, while CXMT has raised 66.6 billion yuan, about €7.9 billion, in its IPO. YMTC is expected to follow with its own flotation later this year, hoping to raise 33 billion yuan, about €3.9 billion. YMTC plans to commission its first DRAM plant, Wuhan Phase 3, by the fourth quarter of 2026, earlier than the previously expected second quarter of 2027.
That plant is expected to eventually reach 100,000 wafers per month, starting at about 50,000 wafers per month. About 20 per cent of the early output is reportedly reserved for trial production of LPDDR modules. CXMT is expanding just as quickly, moving from about 200,000 wafers per month to 300,000 by the end of this year. It is also building new fabs in Shanghai and Hefei that could lift capacity to 600,000 wafers per month.
DigiTimes claims both companies are selling into Western supply chains despite China’s self-sufficiency push, because Western customers pay better. YMTC is reportedly selling NAND through third-party module makers, while CXMT has started qualification with small and mid-sized cloud service providers in the US and Canada.
The Apple angle is where the chest-beating starts. DigiTimes believes CXMT and YMTC want certified supplier status from Job’s Mob mainly as proof that Chinese DRAM and NAND have reached the quality level of international rivals. Large-scale supply looks unlikely because capacity is already tight. CXMT is reportedly booked through 2027 at 95 per cent utilisation, and Job’s Mob would need about 6.6 per cent of CXMT’s year-end capacity just for China-focused annual demand.
So this is less a love story between Job’s Mob and China’s memory industry than a quality-control trophy hunt. CXMT and YMTC want the badge, the bragging rights and the Western customer confidence, without letting Cupertino swallow capacity that is already spoken for.
