China's domestic memory manufacturers are rushing to produce HBM chips, but the biggest DRAM maker has run into roadblocks with HBM3 tech.
CXMT Is Reportedly Struggling With Its HBM3 Development & Has Delayed The Project To 2H 2026, A Cause of Concern for China's Domestic AI Markets
The AI market in China is booming at an incredible pace, led by Huawei and several other chipmakers. Despite facing strict bans on advanced chip production, the AI market has endured, & domestic DRAM makers are now sampling their very first HBM3 solutions, which will be coupled with the latest AI chips.
At Semicon China 2026, Chinese vendors showcased their latest DRAM technologies. One of these was JCET, which unveiled its HBM3e packaging solution based on 2.5D stacking technology. The DRAM aims to deliver 960 GB/s bandwidth per stack and offers a 20% interconnect density increase over the prior generations.
The problem with JCET's HBM3E solution is not the design, but the manufacturing capabilities, which the company lacks. So they can only outsource their technology for manufacturing.
China's leading DRAM maker, CXMT, has also run into its own bottlenecks with HBM3 production. CXMT HBM3 memory is its 4th Gen HBM solution and initially was targeted at a 1H 2026 launch, but the DRAM maker hasn't yet placed any orders for mass production.
A semiconductor industry source explained, "CXMT's technological progress has been rapid, but the HBM3 mass production schedule keeps being pushed back. Judging from development progress, mass production within this year appears unlikely."
According to industry insiders, it is revealed that CXMT's HBM3 memory is still in the testing phase. Even the supplies required for HBM3 are still only viable for a sample production run rather than mass production. Some have even cited that although CXMT has achieved rapid progress in the HBM segment, its HBM3 solution is unlikely to be ready within the current year.
Global DRAM vendors are already rushing into mass production for HBM4 memory, and are ramping up HBM3E solutions for next-gen AI Datacenters. HBM4 will play a key role in upcoming datacenter chips such as NVIDIA's Vera Rubin and AMD's MI400, both expected to land later this year.
The delay of China's HBM3 production will create a temporary bottleneck for domestic AI chipmakers such as Huawei, who will have to rely on external solutions or delay their next-gen products until CXMT and others commence mass production.
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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