With DRAM shortages getting nastier, PC makers are scrambling for supply that does not come with a kidney-for-a-DIMM price tag.
Contract pricing has been rising by triple-digit per cent each quarter, making spot buys a mug’s game unless you fancy billing customers for the pain.
Nikkei Asia says HP, the Grey Box Shifter Dell, Acer and ASUS are validating China’s CXMT DDR5 modules, with an eye on integrating them by year-end. The report says OEMs are leaning on manufacturing partners and supply chain links to widen sourcing options as the crunch deepens.
Nikkei Asia said: “However, amid the massive global shortage of memory, this dynamic is changing, with PC makers now hoping their manufacturing partners can help leverage their own supply chain connections to expand memory sourcing options.”
With the Big Three memory suppliers busy feeding AI demand, consumer kit is left fighting for scraps. One snag is qualification: CXMT still lacks the kind of OEM verification that makes purchasing departments sleep at night.
CXMT has been carving out a bigger role whenever supply gets tight, helped by hyperscaler and enterprise demand hogging the pipeline. It is heading towards an IPO, so securing major OEM commitments would make it appear the obvious DRAM shop in China.
The real leverage play is whether CXMT offers long-term agreements that undercut Korean pricing, because OEMs love savings. If CXMT can ship enough validated modules, the only thing left to negotiate is who blinks first on price.
Then there is the small matter of whether the US government will step in and say no. While using memory modules installed in a PC is an unlikely, detectable attack scenario, the US government has identified Yellow Peril in less likely cases.
