manufactured · input

DRAM Memory Modules (LPDDR5/DDR5)

Low-power double data rate DRAM used in laptop main memory. LPDDR5 is soldered directly to motherboard; DDR5 ships in SO-DIMM slots. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are the only producers.

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Source countries

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Companies

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Goods affected

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Claims on record

What depends on it

Goods that need this input

1 essential American goods rely on dram memory modules (lpddr5/ddr5) somewhere upstream in their supply chain.

Where it comes from

Source countries

Share of global supply, by country.

Who makes it

Supplier companies

5 companies produce dram memory modules (lpddr5/ddr5).

Samsung Electronics(005930.KS)

HQ KR43% share

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (KRX: 005930; ~$200B revenue) is the world's largest NAND flash memory manufacturer with ~33% global market share. Samsung's NAND operations span the Pyeongtaek P3 complex (South Korea) and — critically — the Xi'an, Shaanxi, China facility, which is Samsung's largest single NAND fab by capacity. Samsung received a one-year BIS export control exemption (later extended) to continue upgrading Xi'an equipment under US restrictions. Samsung pioneered 3D NAND V-NAND technology in 2013 (first commercial 3D NAND) and now produces 200+ layer V-NAND. Also produces DRAM (world's largest) and logic chips (Exynos, foundry).

SK Hynix(HXSCL)

HQ KR36% share

SK Hynix Inc. (KRX: 000660; ~₩66T revenue) is the world's #3 NAND flash manufacturer with ~18% global market share — a position significantly strengthened by its $9B acquisition of Intel's NAND business (completed December 2021), which created the Solidigm subsidiary (formerly Intel NAND) and added the Dalian, China fab. SK Hynix's primary domestic NAND production is at the Cheongju M15X fab (North Chungcheong Province, Korea). SK Hynix is also the world's dominant HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) manufacturer, supplying all of NVIDIA's H100/H200/B200 memory.

Samsung Semiconductor(SSNLF)

HQ KR34% share

Integrated device manufacturer producing DRAM, NAND flash, and OLED panels. Second-largest foundry. Led global DRAM market until Q1 2025 when SK Hynix surpassed it.

Micron Technology(MU)

HQ US26% share

Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU; ~$25B revenue) is the world's #5 NAND flash manufacturer with ~11% global market share. Micron's NAND operations span Boise ID (R&D and manufacturing), Hiroshima Japan (inherited from Elpida Memory acquisition 2013, produces NAND and DRAM), and Singapore (300mm NAND wafers). Micron is the only US-headquartered company with significant NAND manufacturing scale. Micron has been aggressive on 3D NAND layer count — reaching 232-layer QLC in 2022 — and also leads in 3D NAND cost efficiency per bit through innovative array architecture.

CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies)

HQ CN3% share

ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT; Chinese: 长鑫存储; founded 2016; headquartered Hefei, Anhui, China) is China's primary state-backed DRAM manufacturer and the most significant attempt to break the Samsung/SK Hynix/Micron oligopoly. CXMT has received an estimated $15B in direct and indirect Chinese government subsidies as part of China's drive toward semiconductor self-sufficiency. As of 2025, CXMT is limited to 17nm DDR4 and LPDDR4 technology — approximately 2-3 process generations behind Samsung/Hynix/Micron's 1a/1b-nm class DRAM. CXMT cannot manufacture HBM of any generation: HBM requires Through-Silicon Via (TSV) stacking and advanced packaging techniques that require equipment and process knowledge CXMT does not possess. US export controls (October 2022, October 2023) target the semiconductor manufacturing equipment CXMT would need to advance to 10nm-class DRAM. CXMT's production primarily serves the domestic Chinese market for consumer electronics and is strategically significant as a pressure valve on global commodity DRAM pricing, but it does not threaten the HBM or advanced DRAM segments where the oligopoly's value is most concentrated.