Former Samsung engineer just testified that CXMT built its entire DRAM operation on stolen IP from day one.
The engineer — nearly 30 years at Samsung, joined CXMT around 2016 — told a South Korean court that CXMT's CEO and CTO planned from the outset to develop DRAM by lifting Samsung's confidential Process Recipe Plan. That's ~600 detailed manufacturing steps.
No R&D facilities. No intention of independent development. Just a shortcut.
Samsung spent five years and over $1 billion refining that process for advanced DRAM nodes. The engineer got seven years in prison.
CXMT has since scaled fast to become China's leading DRAM producer and is narrowing the gap with global players.
This isn't just a legal footnote. It's a reminder that in the memory chip race, IP theft can compress decades of R&D into a few years of execution — and the geopolitical stakes around semiconductor supply chains remain as high as ever.
The engineer — nearly 30 years at Samsung, joined CXMT around 2016 — told a South Korean court that CXMT's CEO and CTO planned from the outset to develop DRAM by lifting Samsung's confidential Process Recipe Plan. That's ~600 detailed manufacturing steps.
No R&D facilities. No intention of independent development. Just a shortcut.
Samsung spent five years and over $1 billion refining that process for advanced DRAM nodes. The engineer got seven years in prison.
CXMT has since scaled fast to become China's leading DRAM producer and is narrowing the gap with global players.
This isn't just a legal footnote. It's a reminder that in the memory chip race, IP theft can compress decades of R&D into a few years of execution — and the geopolitical stakes around semiconductor supply chains remain as high as ever.