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China's Semiconductor Memory Patent Applications Quadruple, Outpacing Samsung in Some Areas
Thursday, November 27, 2025 at 08:15 PM
New data reportedly shows that patent applications by Chinese semiconductor memory firms have grown fourfold, with the country achieving a technological lead over Samsung in certain memory domains. This highlights the rapid advancement and significant investment in China's domestic memory sector.
Context
China's top memory chip makers are aggressively expanding their intellectual property, signaling a long-term challenge to established market leaders. Between 2018 and 2023, DRAM specialist ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) increased its annual patent applications by 4.6 times, while NAND producer Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) saw a 2.6-fold increase. This surge is part of a broader national push, with China filing 46,591 semiconductor patents from April 2023 to March 2024—a 44% year-over-year jump representing 57.5% of the global total.
This patent accumulation, spurred by U.S. sanctions, is closing the IP gap with incumbents like Samsung Electronics and Micron. In some specific memory technology domains, Chinese patent filings now rival those of Samsung. While China's current memory chip market share is only about 5%, this growing patent portfolio could narrow the perceived technology gap, which some industry officials estimate is at most five years, and increase future competitive and legal pressures on global players.
Sources (16)
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