According to recent information from the China Securities Regulatory Commission's official website, ChangXin Memory Technologies Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as "CXMT") has updated its listing counseling status to "counseling work completed." The IPO counseling institutions for the company are China International Capital Corporation and CITIC Securities. CXMT initiated its listing counseling in early July this year and completed the process in approximately three months. Based on CXMT's strategic financing in March 2024, the company's valuation is approximately 140 billion yuan. As a leading domestic memory chip manufacturer, CXMT's listing progress has attracted significant market attention.
**Market Share Expected to Rise Steadily**
CXMT is a leading domestic integrated circuit IDM manufacturer. According to corporate records, CXMT was established in 2016 as an enterprise primarily engaged in computer, communications, and other electronic equipment manufacturing, with registered capital of approximately 60.193 billion yuan.
Among its subsidiaries, CXMT's wholly-owned subsidiary ChangXin Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (referred to as "ChangXin Memory") serves as one of the company's core business entities. ChangXin Memory is an integrated memory manufacturer focusing on the design, research and development, production, and sales of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) chips. Headquartered in Hefei, Anhui, ChangXin Memory has multiple R&D centers and branch offices both domestically and internationally. The company's technical team possesses extensive R&D experience and innovation capabilities, having launched multiple commercial DRAM products widely used in mobile terminals, computers, servers, virtual reality, and Internet of Things applications.
In terms of capacity expansion, according to TrendForce data, ChangXin Memory's capacity will reach 300,000 wafers per month by the end of 2025, representing a nearly 50% year-over-year increase. On the shipment front, ChangXin Memory launched its new-generation 16Gb DDR5 products in 2024, skipping the 17nm (D1y) node and directly adopting the 16nm (D1z) node, while currently accelerating the transition from DDR4/LPDDR4 to DDR5/LPDDR5.
Counterpoint predictions indicate that ChangXin Memory's DRAM shipments will grow 50% year-over-year this year, with its share in the overall DRAM market expected to increase from 6% in the first quarter to 8% in the fourth quarter. ChangXin Memory is not only increasing production of its main traditional products DDR4 and LPDDR4 but also achieving significant growth in DDR5 and LPDDR5 products. Counterpoint predicts that ChangXin Memory's share in the DDR5 market will rise from less than 1% in the first quarter to 7% by year-end, while its share in the LPDDR5 market will surge from 0.5% to 9%.
The global DRAM market currently exhibits a highly concentrated structure. According to analysis from Industrial Securities, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron - the three global leaders - hold a combined market share exceeding 90%, demonstrating significant industry concentration. Memory has relatively prominent commodity characteristics, following price cycles and relying on China's strong terminal market. The institution believes that ChangXin Memory, leveraging continuous product iteration and China's cost and scale advantages, has excellent prospects to make a significant impact in the global DRAM market and achieve steady market share growth.
CITIC Securities stated that the DRAM memory chip market is monopolized by Korean and American manufacturers, while ChangXin's technology is accelerating iteration to catch up with global advanced levels, with capacity achieving doubled growth in 2024. ChangXin's future listing is expected to continue driving capacity expansion, with equipment localization rates potentially gradually improving. The firm recommends focusing on beneficiary targets in ChangXin's equipment, packaging and testing, module, and IC substrate supply chains.
**Deep "Binding" with Gigadevice Semiconductor Inc.**
According to corporate records, CXMT is backed by multiple well-known investment institutions and enterprises, including Matrix Partners China and Alibaba (China) Network Technology Co., Ltd. Among them, Hefei Qinghui Jidian Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership) ("Qinghui Jidian"), Hefei ChangXin Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd., and China IC Industry Investment Fund Phase II Co., Ltd. are CXMT's first, second, and third largest shareholders, holding 24.32%, 12.43%, and 9.80% stakes respectively. Memory chip leader Gigadevice Semiconductor Inc. (603986.SH) and other listed companies also directly or indirectly hold stakes in CXMT.
Notably, Gigadevice Semiconductor Inc. has a deep cooperative relationship with CXMT. Gigadevice Semiconductor Inc.'s Chairman Zhu Yiming previously served as Director and Chief Executive Officer of ChangXin Memory Technologies Co., Ltd., and Chief Executive Officer of CXMT, and currently serves as Chairman of CXMT. Additionally, Qinghui Jidian is currently CXMT's largest shareholder. Zhu Yiming indirectly holds related interests in CXMT through investment in Qinghui Jidian's general partner, Hefei Qinghui ChangXin Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership).
In March 2024, Gigadevice Semiconductor Inc. announced that to strengthen the strategic cooperative relationship with CXMT, the company plans to participate in CXMT's new funding round with 1.5 billion yuan of its own funds. CXMT's pre-investment valuation for this round was approximately 139.982 billion yuan. Based on this pricing, calculated against CXMT's total registered capital of 53.633 billion yuan, CXMT's capital increase price for this round was 2.61 yuan per yuan of registered capital.
Besides Gigadevice Semiconductor Inc., CXMT's funding round included multiple investors such as Hefei ChangXin Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd., Hefei Industrial Investment No. 1 Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), and CCB Financial Asset Investment Co., Ltd., with total financing of 10.8 billion yuan. The company and all other investors in this round have identical investment terms and share prices.
According to previous announcements from Gigadevice Semiconductor Inc., the company has been conducting DRAM business-related cooperation with ChangXin Memory Technologies Group Co., Ltd. and its controlled subsidiaries (collectively referred to as "ChangXin Group") since 2019. Gigadevice Semiconductor Inc. and its controlled subsidiaries procure foundry-produced DRAM-related products from ChangXin Group, including but not limited to ChangXin Memory and ChangXin Memory Technology (Hefei) Co., Ltd. and other major business subsidiaries. The projected transaction amount for 2025 is $161 million, equivalent to approximately 1.161 billion yuan.
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