China's DRAM IPO Race: UniIC Pushes for Beijing Listing as CXMT Clears Key Hurdle for a $4.3B Shanghai Debut

UniIC’s trajectory is far more modest. The Xi’an-based dynamic random-access memory manufacturer, backed by the Chinese technology conglomerate Tsinghua UniGroup, is pursuing a different path to public markets. According to a report from the South China Morning Post and supporting regulatory filings, UniIC recently completed its initial public offering tutoring phase—a mandatory step for mainland Chinese listings—ending a five-month process that began in early 2026 . TrendForce confirmed that UniIC officially entered the official tutoring phase on the Beijing Stock Exchange on January 5, 2026 .

That tutoring completion marks forward movement, but it remains very early in the process. UniIC has not publicly disclosed a target fundraising amount, and the company is far from submitting a formal listing application . The contrast could not be starker.

Head-to-Head Comparison

CXMT’s financial momentum underscores the gulf between the two players. The chipmaker reported a net profit of roughly 3.3 billion yuan in Q1 2026, a dramatic swing from a net loss of 1.6 billion yuan a year earlier, driven by booming AI and server demand . To fund further capacity expansion for advanced memory like DDR5 and HBM, CXMT turned to public markets . The proposed IPO would be the second-largest in STAR Market history after Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) .

UniIC, for its part, has been laying technical groundwork. In mid-2025, it entered the NEEQ Innovation Tier—an upgrade providing new financing avenues like private placements—and declared plans to launch high-capacity LPDDR4x/5x products and develop next-generation automotive-grade memory chips . However, in the race to a mainland IPO, CXMT remains far ahead of its smaller Tsinghua-backed rival.