According to South Korean media reports, Chinese storage chip manufacturer Changxin Storage has caught up with Samsung and SK Hynix in HBM3 technology, narrowing the gap between China and South Korea in the HBM field from the previous multi generation lag to only 3 years.

Industry sources have revealed that Changxin has the ability to mass produce HBM3 in terms of technology. Although yield is still a limiting factor, there is no longer a technological gap.

HBM3 is the third-generation high bandwidth memory widely used in current AI GPUs, and the NVIDIA H100 is equipped with this specification. In order to comply with US export control requirements, NVIDIA's H20 GPU specially designed for the Chinese market is equipped with 96GB HBM3, which is more than the 80GB of H100.

According to reports, Changxin is expected to have a HBM production capacity of 300000 12 inch wafers per month by the end of 2026. At the same time, Changxin has obtained IPO approval and plans to raise 29.5 billion yuan for technology upgrades.

However, Samsung and SK Hynix still have a leading advantage. The latest AI chip has adopted HBM3e, and manufacturers will start signing HBM4 contracts at the end of this year.

Changxin's core strategy can be summarized in four words: 'countercyclical investment'. When the market is sluggish and giants are shrinking, Changxin chooses to invest against the trend by building large-scale factories and conducting research and development. This strategy may seem crazy, but it is actually ingenious.

Timing is key. Changxin leverages the low-cost advantage of the industry's downturn - lower equipment prices and easier access to talent, and then precisely releases production capacity during the explosive period of market demand, especially the demand brought by AI. In 2025, the price increase of Changxin's DDR and LPDDR series products will be 61% and 24% respectively, the sales increase will be 282% and 65% respectively, and the revenue increase will be 515% and 106% respectively.

More importantly, Changxin's capacity release has disrupted the supply and demand adjustment rhythm set by the "three giants". When Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron attempted to maintain high prices by reducing production, Changxin's stable production capacity output weakened the effectiveness of the "production reduction and price protection" strategy. In the first quarter of 2026, Changxin's revenue increased by 719% year-on-year, while Samsung Electronics only grew by 69%, SK Hynix grew by 198%, and Micron Technology grew by 190%. Changxin's expansion speed is much faster than the three giants of South Korea and the United States.

Behind this "countercyclical" expansion logic is Changxin's profound understanding of industry rules. The storage chip industry often experiences a cycle of shortages, price increases, expansion, oversupply, and price reductions, but the structural changes brought about by AI demand are prolonging and strengthening the industry's upward cycle. Changxin seized this time window.

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