Amid a global memory-chip shortage, Apple is exploring Chinese suppliers to ease supply pressures, but faces opposition from US lawmakers concerned over national security and military ties.
Apple is under pressure from a global memory-chip shortage that has tightened supply and pushed up prices across its product lines. To ease that strain, the company has been exploring additional suppliers, including two Chinese makers, ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies, according to Reuters and the Wall Street Journal. The search reflects a wider effort to secure components that are easier to source than the highly customised parts used in the iPhone.
The approach has triggered opposition from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Washington. The Wall Street Journal reported that US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick has warned Apple that the Trump administration does not want the company buying memory chips from Chinese producers. That stance adds another layer of risk for Apple, which has been trying to lock in supply as memory costs rise.
According to MacRumors, Apple has been testing DRAM chips from CXMT, although it has not committed to using them commercially. The company has also discussed YMTC as a possible supplier. The appeal is straightforward: memory chips are less bespoke than many other smartphone components, so Apple can more easily qualify off-the-shelf parts for use in its devices.
The regulatory problem is more complex. YMTC is on the US Commerce Department’s Entity List, and both YMTC and CXMT are listed by the Pentagon among firms tied to China’s military. That means any meaningful cooperation could require government approval, particularly if Apple needs custom specifications or technical information shared with the suppliers. The timing is notable: Lutnick and Apple chief executive Tim Cook recently appeared together at the opening of Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Houston, part of the company’s wider US investment pledge. But that domestic expansion does not solve Apple’s immediate supply-chain problems, especially as memory prices remain elevated.
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