(Yicai) Aug. 3 -- The sixth-generation dynamic random-access memory chip designed for faster speed and lower power consumption that is being developed by ChangXin Memory Technologies, the startup that became the Chinese mainland's most valuable listed firm after going public last week, is getting close to being proven ready for mass production, according to a source.

CXMT’s sixth-gen low-power double data rate DRAM, or LPDDR6, has nearly completed testing, the person familiar with the matter told Yicai. If the Hefei-based company can start mass-producing the chip before the end of this year, it would become one of the first worldwide to make next-gen DRAM, putting it in direct competition with South Korea's SK Hynix, the person said.

In March, SK Hynix announced that it had become the first company globally to finish testing of a 16-gigabyte LPDDR6 product, adding that it planned to complete preparations for mass production in the first half and begin supplying clients in the second half. Compared with existing LPDDR5X products, the new chip delivers a third higher bandwidth and more than 20 percent lower power consumption.

The other two memory giants, Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology, have not yet publicly disclosed development progress or mass-production schedules for their own LPDDR6 products.

LPDDR is low-power mobile memory that is commonly used in consumer electronics products such as phones and tablets. CXMT mainly makes fifth-generation double-rate synchronous DRAM and LPDDR5, with revenue from LPDDR products accounting for over 66 percent of its total last year.

CXMT’s shares [SHA: 688825] ended 1.9 percent higher at CNY54.99 (USD8.15) each today. The benchmark Star Composite Index gave up 3.4 percent.

CXMT debuted on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Start Market on July 27. At CNY3.61 trillion, its market capitalization is about a third higher than Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s CNY2.72 trillion, the previous market leader.

According to its prospectus, CXMT began mass production of LPDDR5, DDR5, and LPDDR5X in 2023, 2024, and last year, respectively.

CXMT sold 6.688 billion shares in its initial public offering, priced at CNY8.66 (USD1.29) apiece. Gross proceeds before the greenshoe option stood at CNY57.9 billion (USD8.6 billion), surpassing the CNY53.2 billion that fellow chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation scored in its Star Market IPO in 2020, making it the biggest mainland offering in nearly 19 years and the largest in Asia so far this year.

The proceeds will mainly go to upgrade production lines for memory wafer fabrication, push forward DRAM technology, and conduct forward-looking research and development of DRAM, CXMT said.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev