HP, Asus, Acer begin using Chinese CXMT memory chips outside US amid AI-driven DRAM shortage
HP, Asus and Acer have begun using small amounts of DRAM from China's CXMT in select budget laptops sold outside the US, Nikkei Asia reports, as an AI-driven memory shortage squeezes supply. Chips stay off US models, makers wary of upsetting suppliers Micron $MU, Samsung and SK H
HP, Asus and Acer have begun using small quantities of DRAM chips from China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) in select budget laptops sold outside the United States, Nikkei Asia and Tom's Hardware report. The shift comes as a global memory shortage, driven by soaring demand for AI infrastructure, squeezes the supply of DRAM chips that let phones, computers and servers quickly retrieve data while running programs. CXMT, which makes DRAM, has become the fastest-growing challenger to the three companies that have long dominated the memory-chip industry: Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron $MU. Its share of global DRAM sales rose to 8% in the first quarter, up from 3% a year earlier, making it the world's fourth-largest supplier, according to Counterpoint Research. The CXMT chips used by HP, Asus and Acer were validated in mid-2026 and are limited to models sold outside the US, since the PC makers are wary of upsetting their established suppliers. CXMT itself is prioritizing supply to domestic customers such as Huawei over the PC makers seeking an alternative source. The shift shows how an AI-driven components squeeze is pushing Western hardware makers toward Chinese suppliers even as Washington moves to restrict other categories of Chinese tech from US infrastructure, a tension playing out on opposite sides of the same supply chain.