About 70% of that money is reportedly going towards further expansion of DRAM production, rather than pricier, more complicated HBM. However, the firm has supplied HBM3E samples to Alibaba's T-Head and Cambricon, even as Samsung and SK hynix enter HBM4 production.
As of the South Korean prosecution's last tally in December 2025, Samsung's damages due to CXMT's alleged machinations ascended to "at least tens of trillions of won." A back-of-the-envelope extrapolation, considering quite a while has passed, might suggest a figure in the range of ₩40 trillion, or $29.5 billion, and rising exponentially.
The lasting impact on the memory market and technology in general is going well beyond plain number descriptors, though. All things considered, if the allegations are true, then CXMT's machinations resulted in a geopolitical-scale economic event. Dr. Evil would be proud.
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Bruno Ferreira Social Links Navigation Contributor Bruno Ferreira is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. He has decades of experience with PC hardware and assorted sundries, alongside a career as a developer. He's obsessed with detail and has a tendency to ramble on the topics he loves. When not doing that, he's usually playing games, or at live music shows and festivals.
Tanakoi I'll buy CXMT ram a month after hell freezes over. Chinese firms like this have stolen trillions of dollars of IP from abroad, with the full and complicit assistance of the CCP government: a brutal authoritarian regime that keeps three million of its own citizens in slave-labor genocide camps, and employs an army of two million state agents to censor what the rest of its citizens can read and post to the Internet. Reply
nookoool Tanakoi said: I'll buy CXMT ram a month after hell freezes over. Chinese firms like this have stolen trillions of dollars of IP from abroad, with the full and complicit assistance of the CCP government: a brutal authoritarian regime that keeps three million of its own citizens in slave-labor genocide camps, and employs an army of two million state agents to censor what the rest of its citizens can read and post to the Internet. Wait till you learn about the history of the US and South Korea lol Reply
Vicecrow DingusDog said: If you look closely the unit says please wear anti laser glasses when approaching. I'm sure people are going to do that. Tanakoi said: I'll buy CXMT ram a month after hell freezes over. Chinese firms like this have stolen trillions of dollars of IP from abroad, with the full and complicit assistance of the CCP government: a brutal authoritarian regime that keeps three million of its own citizens in slave-labor genocide camps, and employs an army of two million state agents to censor what the rest of its citizens can read and post to the Internet. Gulag… Reply
magbarn I’ll buy CXMT memory as soon as it’s just as good, readily available and cheaper than the triopoly of sk Hynix, Samsung, and micron. The more the Chinese steal from them the better. Reply
PEnns nookoool said: Wait till you learn about the history of the US and South Korea lol Some people have selective ignorance. Reply
PEnns Hmmmm, somebody stole from someone who is currently fleecing the whole planet…..what to do now…..buy from the fleecer at exorbitant prices or at lower prices from the thief?? What a dilemma. Reply
Tanakoi nookoool said: Wait till you learn about the history of the US and South Korea lol You mean where we prevented South Korea from becoming the nightmare state that North Korea is, with literally millions dead in concentration camps? I'd explain further, but we're veering off topic. PEnns said: Hmmmm, somebody stole from someone who is currently fleecing the whole planet…..what to do now Memory prices are high because of the simple fact that no amount of temper tantrums can overrule the laws of economics. When demand vastly outstrips supply, there's only two possible choices: either the price rises, or the shelves run bare … and then no one can buy RAM at any price. Take your pick. Reply
Kicapan07 Tanakoi said: I'll buy CXMT ram a month after hell freezes over. Chinese firms like this have stolen trillions of dollars of IP from abroad, with the full and complicit assistance of the CCP government: a brutal authoritarian regime that keeps three million of its own citizens in slave-labor genocide camps, and employs an army of two million state agents to censor what the rest of its citizens can read and post to the Internet. Go China! Steal more IP from Korea please! Reply
Kicapan07 South Korean court says South Korean company was fleeced by non South Korean company! Reply
onigami Tanakoi said: You mean where we prevented South Korea from becoming the nightmare state that North Korea is, with literally millions dead in concentration camps? I'd explain further, but we're veering off topic. Which we helped make by bombing the hell out of North Korea until it was an utter wasteland. But you do you, Joe McCarthy… Memory prices are high because of the simple fact that no amount of temper tantrums can overrule the laws of economics. When demand vastly outstrips supply, there's only two possible choices: either the price rises, or the shelves run bare … and then no one can buy RAM at any price. Take your pick. Calling economics "laws" shows you know nothing about economics. And your crude use of the supply and demand model fails to consider that both the prices are rising and the shelves are bare, since it's not the consumers buying. So either explain how you're in utter thrall to power, or can it. Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/chinas-cmxt-had-an-actual-roadmap-for-its-alleged-industrial-espionage-from-samsung-south-korean-court-says-project-hefei-was-responsible-for-cxmts-current-position-as-major-dram-maker#main
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.