China's top DRAM maker CXMT targets $4.4bn Shanghai IPO
China’s largest DRAM maker CXMT is launching a $4.4 billion Shanghai IPO, marking a critical step in the country’s push to build a domestic memory-chip industry capable of competing globally.
CXMT is set to start taking subscriptions on Thursday for a Shanghai offering that aims to raise 29.5 billion yuan, equivalent to US$4.4 billion. The listing represents a major test of investor appetite for China’s domestic semiconductor sector at a time when the country is pushing to reduce its reliance on foreign technology.
The size of the offering reflects CXMT’s rapid ascent to become China’s largest DRAM maker. Analysts predict the company could eventually command a market value of 3 trillion yuan. If that valuation materialises, CXMT would rank among China’s most valuable listed technology companies, establishing a domestic giant in a memory-chip market long dominated by international players.
For institutional investors, the listing offers a chance to back a newly profitable enterprise. The IPO marks a critical milestone for founder Zhu Yiming, who reportedly pledged in 2018 not to draw a salary until the memory-chip project became profitable. CXMT achieved that profitability milestone just last year, demonstrating a delayed but ultimately successful execution of its business model.
Zhu’s long-term vision for the company predates CXMT itself. More than two decades ago, while working as an engineer in Silicon Valley with a chip design but limited capital, Zhu forecasted a fundamental shift in the global memory industry. He mapped out a pattern of geographic migration, arguing that the industry’s centre of gravity had moved from the United States to Japan, and subsequently to South Korea.
In early correspondence retained by Li Jun, one of Zhu’s earliest investors, the founder laid out his strategic thesis. “It is time for China to play [a] role in this industry,” he wrote in emails later reproduced in a Tsinghua University alumni publication. The upcoming IPO is the financial realisation of that two-decade-old strategic bet.
