Analysis: CXMT's production capacity has peaked, and DRAM prices continue to rise sharply

Analysis indicates that China's major DRAM manufacturer CXMT's monthly wafer output has reached a peak of approximately 240,000 pieces by the end of 2025, and is expected to remain flat in 2026. Due to the tightening of U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductor equipment, especially EUV lithography machines, its capacity for expansion is limited, and substantial expansion will not occur until at least 2027, depending on the progress of the domestic equipment supply chain. According to Goldman Sachs data, CXMT's coverage of domestic DRAM demand is only about 41% in 2026 and about 50% in 2028, reflecting a structural bottleneck for many years.

TrendForce data shows that traditional DRAM contract prices are expected to surge by 90%-95% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2026, followed by another increase of 58%-63% in the second quarter. Jefferies predicts that prices will continue to rise by 40%-50% and 30%-40% in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. The price increase for server DRAM is even steeper, with Samsung and SK Hynix proposing price hikes of 60%-70% to clients like Microsoft and Google in the first quarter. S&P Global expects Samsung's traditional DRAM revenue per bit to rise by 116% year-on-year to $0.79 in 2026, while Micron's ASP will increase by 54% to $1.06; Bernstein predicts that SK Hynix's DRAM gross margin could reach 92.7% in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Multiple forecasts suggest that effective supply relief may not occur until the end of 2027 or even 2028.