GMIF2026 Annual Awards Unveiled: Samsung, Sandisk, Lenovo, Silicon Motion, BIWIN, and More Recognized

SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The 5th GMIF Innovation Summit  (Global Memory Innovation Forum 2026, GMIF2026) recently concluded at the Renaissance Shenzhen Bay Hotel, co-hosted by the Shenzhen Memory Industry Association (SMIA) and the School of Integrated Circuits, Peking University. Themed “The Future Built on AI Memory and Storage,” the summit brought together leading companies, technical experts, and industry leaders from across the global memory and semiconductor value chain to examine new trends, demands, and partnerships in the AI era, with the token economy as a key perspective.

To recognize the contributions of companies across the value chain, the summit established the GMIF2026 Annual Awards, spanning memory and storage, compute, packaging and testing equipment, test systems, and end applications. Winners were evaluated on technology innovation, industry contribution, market service, and application results. The list highlights the strengths of the honorees in their respective segments and traces the technology roadmap of the memory and storage industry in the era of large models.

Leading the AI Memory & Storage Industry: Core Technology Breakthroughs and Joint Compute Ecosystem Building

As the AI memory and storage industry accelerates, innovators and leaders across memory, compute, open-source LLM platforms, servers, and end applications are driving industry upgrades through core technology breakthroughs and long-term ecosystem contributions.

Samsung Semiconductor(Outstanding AI Memory & Storage Industry Leadership Award): A global leader in the memory supply chain, Samsung continues to guide the direction of DRAM and NAND technology. It has pioneered zNAND-O 3D architecture, V10 NAND with more than 400 layers, and CXL memory, accelerating inference, large-scale compute expansion, and intelligent storage while providing key support for global AI infrastructure.

Sandisk (Outstanding NAND Technology Breakthrough Award): Drawing on deep vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities, Sandisk continues to reshape storage architecture for the AI era. It introduced its CBA scaling strategy to significantly improve storage density and energy efficiency, and has led the development and strategy of high-bandwidth flash (HBF), supporting the evolution of next-generation AI inference architectures.

Solidigm(Outstanding AI SSD Technology Innovation Award): A leader in enterprise data storage, Solidigm builds on decades of product leadership and technical innovation to help customers transform their businesses. Its end-to-end portfolio, from the core data center to the edge, supports AI and other frontier fields.

CXMT(Outstanding DRAM Technology Innovation Award): As a leading DRAM company in China, CXMT achieved the first full-platform launch of LPDDR6, a significant step forward in high-end memory standards. Its IDM model and continuous iteration serve PC, mobile, server, and AI compute applications, with steadily rising shipments, and its R&D investment and volume production capability have played a key role in making the DRAM supply chain self-reliant.

Arm(Outstanding AI Computing Ecosystem Contribution Award): Built on energy-efficient architecture and its “Arm Total Design” ecosystem, Arm’s unified compute platform spans cloud, edge, and physical AI, and has brought together more than 22 million developers worldwide. Innovative licensing and hardware-software co-optimization have significantly lowered the barrier to customizing AI infrastructure, and Arm’s long-term support for green computing and academic-industry collaboration contributes to an open, diverse, and sustainable compute ecosystem.

Lenovo(Outstanding AI Infrastructure Leadership Award): Lenovo advances its hybrid AI strategy and continues to build full-stack AI infrastructure across devices, edge, cloud, and network. With leading AI servers, liquid cooling, AI factory solutions, and end-to-end intelligent services, it provides a solid compute foundation for industries and helps move AI from technical innovation to large-scale application.

Dify(Outstanding AI Open-Source Platform Contribution Award): As a leading open-source LLM application development platform, Dify has reshaped AI agent development with its “AI App OS” concept. Visual workflow orchestration and a powerful RAG engine lower the barrier to building AI applications and speed the path from proof of concept to commercial deployment at scale.

Silicon Motion(Outstanding Controller Technology Pioneer Award): A global leader in storage controllers, Silicon Motion draws on deep expertise and industry-leading process technology and low-power design to offer a full-scenario controller portfolio spanning data centers, AI PCs, automotive embedded systems, and consumer devices. Its forward-looking approach to compute-storage integration supports the spread of AI compute from cloud to edge.

Numbers Law(Outstanding HDD Technology Breakthrough Award): A pioneer in domestic HDD innovation, Numbers Law broke through the physical performance limits of conventional HDDs. Its new PMD technology delivers a step change in performance, with 30x bandwidth and more than 1,000x random IOPS, opening a new path for AI HDDs in China.

Paratera (Outstanding AI Computing Service Award): With nearly two decades in compute services, Paratera has bridged the architectural divide between supercomputing and intelligent computing. Its “Paratera Compute Network” and cross-cluster scheduling system efficiently orchestrate heterogeneous compute across millions of CPU cores and tens of thousands of GPUs, lifting utilization above 85%. Through its MaaS platform and “token factory” business model, it supports large model training, inference, and AI for Science.

SYNCORE(Outstanding Intelligent Cockpit Technology Innovation Award): A smart connected technology company jointly established by GAC Group and iFLYTEK, SYNCORE pursues a dual strategy of “AI plus domestic technology.” With its SYNCOREOS and FLOW source-model cockpit system, it was first to bring integrated device-cloud large models to mass production in vehicles, creating a “smart mobile space” with multimodal perception, emotional computing, and long-term memory.

NEXWISE(Outstanding AI Infrastructure Pioneer Award): Pursuing both “AI plus cloud computing” and “AI plus security,” NEXWISE has built a full-stack AI infrastructure system. Its “KuberCloud” intelligent compute platform and AI Large Model All-in-One System underpin compute clusters of roughly 50,000P across East, South, and North China, and its “token factory” model turns compute into pay-per-use services that lower the barrier to AI adoption across industries.

Maxio Technology(Outstanding AI Storage Ecosystem Contribution Award): A core global supplier of independent third-party SSD controllers, Maxio ranks second worldwide in shipments and first in China. It serves more than 100 leading customers across consumer electronics, data centers, smart vehicles, and industrial control, and works closely with NAND makers and module manufacturers to build a full-chain ecosystem spanning sensing, transmission, and storage.

Focusing on Specialized Markets: Memory & Storage Solution Providers Step Up

As AI memory and storage applications become more diverse, solution providers are combining scenario-specific customization with technological innovation to deliver higher-value, more reliable products across cloud, edge, and device.

BIWIN(Outstanding Enterprise Memory & Storage Innovation Award): Backed by its Integrated Solutions and Manufacturing capability, BIWIN delivers high-performance, high-reliability enterprise storage for AI data centers and compute centers. Its portfolio covers PCIe 5.0 SSDs, CXL memory, and RDIMMs, with core enterprise products entering the supply chains of leading OEMs, AI server makers, and internet companies.

Infplane(Outstanding Intelligent Storage Achievement Award): An innovator in AI Native storage architecture, Infplane rebuilds the data path for on-device AI through hardware-software co-design. Its AI SSD uses dedicated acceleration partitions and custom scheduling algorithms to enable KV cache persistence, hot/cold expert prefetching for MoE models, and intelligent model data tiering, easing the “time wall” and “capacity wall” of on-device inference.

Genstoraige(Outstanding Emerging Enterprise in AI Storage Innovation Award): A fast-rising force in high-performance storage, Genstoraige pursues a full-stack “storage plus connectivity plus solutions” strategy across cloud, edge, and device. Its flagship edge AI 90 token factory pioneers an FaaS for KV Cache Offload architecture that moves KV cache from GPU memory to AI SSDs and dynamically schedules data across three tiers: HBM, DRAM, and SCM. This solution raises token throughput 10x, and reduces measured inference cost to 1/67 of the cloud.

Topdisk (Outstanding Market Potential Award): A national-level “Little Giant” enterprise with years of focus on NAND Flash, Topdisk has solid R&D, packaging and testing, and production capabilities. It continues to deepen overseas markets and expand into domestic industry-grade storage, bringing its Smart Flash series to more scenarios across AI terminals, edge computing, IoT, and industrial devices.

KingSpec(Outstanding Contribution to Storage Testing Innovation Award): Founded in 2007 and recognized as a national “Little Giant” enterprise, KingSpec focuses on storage products and test equipment. Its ZD102 automated memory module tester supports UDIMM DDR4 and runs the full MemTest86 workflow with one click, testing 60 modules per batch in parallel and offering 14 selectable test items. It provides chip-level fault location, ECC, real-time monitoring, and automatic report generation synced to MES for full traceability.

POWEV(Outstanding Brand Innovation Award): With its three-brand portfolio (Asgard, Gloway, and SINKER), POWEV serves consumer gaming, mass-market, and industry applications. Underpinned by nearly 200 proprietary intellectual property rights, and integrated full-chain capabilities, it was first to mass-produce DDR4/DDR5 memory modules based on domestic chips, setting a benchmark for domestic memory brands.

Quanxing Technology(Outstanding AI Infrastructure Service Award): Its AI “Ultra-Memory” Fusion Solution addresses the high cost and limited GPU memory of running very large models on local devices. Combining the in-house Tianyi AI SSD with the AI Link Plus algorithm, the solution lets one drive serve two purposes: a high-performance SSD that also extends into an efficient external GPU memory pool, with hot/cold scheduling across memory tiers to support KV cache reuse, long context, and MoE offloading, cutting inference cost by up to 90% and raising concurrency performance by 50%.

Barycn(Outstanding Emerging Memory & Storage Brand Award): Founded in 2010 and entering the memory industry in 2022, the company launched its own brand in 2024 and focuses on R&D, innovation, and sales across the memory chip value chain. It has long-term wafer-level partnerships with global leading IDMs and offers customers efficient, reliable storage solutions backed by strong supply chain integration.

Supply Chain Enablers: Precision Manufacturing and Independent Innovation Support the Memory and Storage Industry

Companies with deep expertise in packaging and testing services, equipment, materials, and power management are safeguarding the yield, reliability, and supply chain security of memory chips.

OKN Technology(Outstanding Memory & Storage Testing Solution Gold Award): With full-stack in-house hardware and software, OKN offers high-coverage, high-stability SLT solutions. It was first to release the high-speed test systems for PCIe Gen6 eSSD and next-generation DDR5, and its domestic hardware-software platform supports yield and reliability for memory chips.

APIE (Outstanding TCB Packaging Innovation Award): Attach Point (APIE) achieved domestic innovation in wafer-level 2.5D/3D bonding equipment, validated jointly by multiple leading silicon companies, breaking an international monopoly and filling a gap in advanced packaging equipment in China.

COMIX(Outstanding Market Service Award): Focused on government and enterprise bulk procurement, Comix builds customer-centered, full-scenario service solutions backed by a strong supply chain network and standardized fulfillment. It applies AI across sourcing, order delivery, and settlement management to provide compliant, efficient procurement support for state-owned and large enterprises.

LKAUTO(Outstanding Packaging & Testing Equipment Application Award): Founded in 2013, LKAUTO is a national “Little Giant” enterprise offering precision ball placement and 2D/3D AOI solutions for traditional and advanced packaging. Serving the fast-growing CMOS, memory, and 2.5D packaging and testing markets, it has become a representative domestic supplier of ball placement and AOI inspection equipment.

Maxwell Technologies(Outstanding AI Storage Equipment Service Award): Focused on high-end memory and CPO SDBG, Maxwell offers an integrated solution combining laser stealth dicing, grinding and polishing, high/low temperature expansion, and bonding/debonding, with in-house core components. Its ultra-thin memory processes have been adopted by multiple leading packaging and testing houses, helping reduce costs and improve yield across the domestic supply chain.

Hemei Jingyi (Outstanding IC Packaging Substrate Technology Innovation Award): Hemei Jingyi has built an in-house technology system covering the full IC package substrate process, including ultra-fine circuitry, precision lamination, high-precision plating, and intelligent inspection. It has achieved domestic mass production of storage IC package substrates for high-reliability uses such as servers and automotive storage.

Silergy(Outstanding Storage Power Management IC Brand Award): Silergy is a leading independent analog chip designer. For the demanding power requirements of high-density SSDs and AI data centers, it offers highly integrated, low-power storage PMICs and power-loss protection solutions that improve read/write stability while lowering total cost of ownership.

Heyan Technology(Outstanding Semiconductor Packaging Equipment Innovation Award): With more than a decade in domestic packaging equipment, Heyan has broken long-standing overseas dominance in high-end equipment. Its fully automatic precision dicing machines and high-cleanliness trimming machines address ultra-thin wafer processing challenges in 3D advanced packaging and HBM stacking, with performance on par with leading international products.

ExTripod Electronics(Outstanding Integrated Services for the Semiconductor Market Award): ExTripod offers a one-stop service system covering product selection, solution integration, demo validation, equipment installation, process support, and after-sales service. Focused on advanced packaging, power semiconductors, and compound semiconductors, it covers advanced processes such as HBM, hybrid bonding, CoWoS, 2.5D/3D, and FOWLP/PLP, supporting OSAT, IDM, and fabless customers from a Demo & Tooling Centre in Suzhou and a service network across China and Southeast Asia.

UNIMOS(Outstanding Storage Packaging & Testing Service Award): Building on its technical experience in memory & storage packaging and testing, UNIMOS offers a one-stop test service system for NAND and DRAM. It has mature high-density 3D NAND stacking capability, and its automotive-grade quality system and CNAS-accredited laboratory safeguard yield and reliability for high-end memory chips.

GBAT(Outstanding Storage Packaging & Testing Application Achievement Award): GBAT focuses on advanced packaging for memory chips and modules, including SiP and QFN, with stable volume production lines. It provides high-heat-dissipation, high-reliability packaging for AI compute storage, serving AI PCs, edge compute, and automotive storage, and its automotive- and industrial-grade products have passed certification at leading customers.

Tytantest(Outstanding Innovation Award for Semiconductor Test Systems): Focused on memory test equipment, Tytantest launched China’s first high-parallel Flash/DRAM burn-in tester and an LPDDR5 SLT tester, contributing to self-reliance in domestic memory test equipment.

The GMIF2026 Annual Awards offer a concentrated look at innovation across the global AI memory and storage industry, and a platform for dialogue between international leaders and Chinese companies. The honorees span global vendors defining frontier architectures, local companies advancing controllers, memory & storage solutions, and compute offerings, and supply chain players strengthening critical links in packaging, testing, and equipment. Their achievements reinforce a clear industry thread: AI is reshaping memory, memory underpins compute, and compute anchors AI infrastructure. As these segments advance in step, they are accelerating the shared evolution of the global memory industry and AI infrastructure, and deepening their role in the broader progress of semiconductors.

About GMIF

Global Memory Innovation Forum (GMIF) is a premier annual gathering that connects the global memory and storage community. Featuring diverse activities including keynote speeches, roundtable dialogues, supply-demand match-making, product showcases, industry rankings, awards programs, and global livestreaming, GMIF brings together key enterprises across the memory and storage chain, technical experts, terminal companies and investment institutions to exchange insights, build partnerships, and create business opportunities.

Learn more about GMIF, please visit https://www.gmif.com.cn/. Follow us on LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook.

Media Contact:
Carina Gu, wenjing.gu@gmif.com.cn