Thought Leadership
Huawei is reportedly working with SwaySure to establish its own DRAM manufacturing operation in Shenzhen. The goal is to secure memory supplies for its AI accelerators.
According to semiconductor industry analysts, the city government of Shenzhen, memory manufacturer SwaySure and technology giant Huawei are collaborating on the construction of a 12-inch memory fabrication plant. The project is aimed at producing DRAM memory chips. Industry sources reportedly expect the facility to reach a planned capacity of 140,000 wafer starts per month.
SwaySure was registered in Shenzhen in March 2022 and receives municipal support. The company is also listed alongside Huawei on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Entity List. However, there has been no independent confirmation of the current plans. Huawei has previously rejected reports that it operates its own network of state-backed semiconductor fabs.
Focus on High-Bandwidth Memory for AI Accelerators
Industry analysts attribute the reported project to Huawei’s growing need for High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) for its Ascend AI accelerators. U.S. export controls have largely prevented Chinese companies from sourcing HBM memory modules from established manufacturers such as Samsung and SK hynix.
Observers believe the planned production is intended primarily to secure Huawei’s own AI hardware supply chain rather than to supply the global consumer market with DDR5 memory. As a result, most of the facility’s future production capacity is likely to be absorbed by the Chinese domestic market.
Chinese Industry Leader CXMT Expands Capacity
The planned expansion of domestic manufacturing comes as the DRAM memory market undergoes structural changes. According to analyst estimates, China’s largest DRAM manufacturer, CXMT, currently reaches nearly 265,000 wafer starts per month. The company is targeting an increase to 350,000 wafer starts by the end of 2026.
That would bring CXMT closer to the production capacity of U.S. semiconductor company Micron, which is estimated to have monthly capacity of around 385,000 wafer starts.
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