A Nio ET5 on display at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2026. Credit: CnEVPost
- A Nio subsidiary has committed to subscribe for 158 million yuan of CXMT shares, with an 18-month lock-up period.
- The move is expected to provide Nio with a more stable supply of automotive-grade memory chips amid a tight memory market.
As soaring memory chip prices put heavy cost pressure on electric vehicle (EV) makers, Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) is deepening its ties with one of China’s hottest companies.
Nio has appeared on the list of strategic investors in the initial public offering (IPO) of CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies), committing to subscribe for 158 million yuan ($23.3 million) of shares.
Nio’s subsidiary, Nio Power Technology (Hefei) Co Ltd, was allotted 18,244,803 shares, or 0.27% of the initial offering, with an 18-month lock-up period, according to an offering announcement published by CXMT on Tuesday.
Nio is CXMT’s strategic partner for dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), and the two companies will engage in strategic cooperation on existing automotive-grade LPDDR4X and LPDDR5X products, according to CXMT.
Local media outlet Yicai subsequently quoted Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li as saying that the collaboration is currently progressing smoothly and will help ensure the stability of Nio’s supply chain.
CXMT is China’s largest maker of DRAM, with a 7.67% global market share in the fourth quarter of 2025, ranking fourth worldwide, according to data from Omdia.
The company priced its IPO at 8.66 yuan per share. If the over-allotment option is fully exercised, the offering would raise 66.6 billion yuan, making it the second-largest IPO in China’s history, behind only Agricultural Bank of China.
Based on the offer price, CXMT would have a market capitalization of about 579.2 billion yuan at listing.
CXMT is based in Hefei, Anhui province, the central Chinese city that is also home to Nio’s existing plants.
In January, Li said in a media communication that CXMT is probably the hottest tech company in China right now, thanks to soaring global memory prices.
Li said at the time that rising memory prices were the biggest cost pressure this year, even exceeding that of other raw materials. Automakers have to compete with AI computing centers, smartphones and the consumer electronics industry for memory supplies.
“For those of us that offer assisted driving systems and smart cockpits as standard, it’s a bit tough,” Li said at a media communication in Hefei on January 6, after Nio Inc reached the milestone of 1 million production vehicles.
That cost pressure has continued to show this year. On July 10, Li said the cost of each ES8 SUV (sport utility vehicle) had risen by nearly 20,000 yuan due to rising raw material prices.
He said that to cover the cost increases, including those from memory chips, the vehicle’s price would theoretically need to rise by 30,000 yuan.
However, Li said Nio is working with supply chain partners to find ways to hedge some of the costs and strive to keep prices stable.
For Nio, becoming a strategic investor and cornerstone partner of CXMT is expected to provide it with a more stable supply of automotive-grade memory chips amid a tight memory market.
In addition to Nio, CXMT’s strategic placement list also includes Xiaomi (HKEX: 1810), Alibaba Cloud, Chery (HKEX: 9973), ZTE, Tencent, Meituan and other tech giants.
Many of these companies were each allotted 18.24 million shares, with a subscription amount of 158 million yuan each.
CXMT will hold an online roadshow on July 15 and open share subscriptions to ordinary Chinese investors on July 16.
William Li said that Nio is working with its supply chain partners to find ways to offset some of the costs and strive to keep prices stable.
Update: Added a response from Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li.
($1 = 6.7669 yuan)
