ChangXin Memory and GigaDevice Deepen Virtual IDM DRAM Cooperation

ChangXin Memory Technologies and GigaDevice Semiconductor, both led by founder Zhu Yiming, have formed a virtual IDM collaboration model. GigaDevice focuses on chip design and global sales, while ChangXin Memory handles wafer manufacturing and process iteration. The two independent legal entities have built a closed loop of design plus manufacturing within the memory industry. GigaDevice listed on the A-share market in 2016, establishing itself in the embedded memory segment through its NOR Flash business. In 2017, after GigaDevice's acquisition of US chip designer ISSI fell through, the two companies established ChangXin Memory through negotiations under the codename "Project 506" to build wafer production lines, with GigaDevice continuing its design business, thereby laying the foundation for the division of labor between the two companies.

The cooperation between the two companies consists of three layers. The first is a long-term exclusive foundry agreement, under which DRAM chips designed by GigaDevice are manufactured by ChangXin Memory, with the two parties maintaining a strategically locked-in priority supply relationship. The second is strategic equity binding: GigaDevice holds a 1.62% stake in ChangXin Technology Group, with the investment recorded under other non-current financial assets. The third is joint research and development, with both parties advancing collaborative iteration of automotive-grade DRAM, low-power DRAM and reliability-enhancement processes under a long-term framework.

In terms of business flow, GigaDevice designs niche DRAM chips that are manufactured by ChangXin Memory on mature process nodes, then sold through GigaDevice's global distribution channels to small and medium-sized end customers. ChangXin Memory simultaneously designs and produces mainstream high-end DRAM products including DDR5, LPDDR5X and LPDDR6, supplying them directly to customers such as Tencent, ByteDance and Huawei. The division of labor is defined as follows: ChangXin Memory produces high-end products on advanced process nodes for its own sales, and manufactures niche products for GigaDevice on mature process nodes, maximizing fab utilization while achieving full-scenario product coverage.

Related-party transaction data shows the scale of cooperation between the two companies has continued to expand. The growth is linked to the cyclical upturn in the memory industry, ChangXin Memory's capacity ramp-up, and the expansion of GigaDevice's DRAM business.