Apple's supply strategy faces setbacks as Chinese memory firms resist discounts

Apple’s efforts to reduce memory costs by sourcing from China’s CXMT have hit a roadblock, as the Chinese supplier resists discounts amid a tightening market and growing leverage for established chipmakers like Samsung and SK hynix.

Apple’s attempt to blunt soaring memory costs by turning to China’s CXMT has apparently stalled, with the supplier resisting the discounts the company had hoped to secure, according to reporting cited by Digital Daily and other industry publications. The outcome matters because Apple has been under heavy pressure from a global squeeze in DRAM and SSD supplies, driven in large part by demand from artificial intelligence data centres.

The push to diversify supply comes after Apple raised prices across much of its hardware line in June, with increases ranging from $100 to $1,300 on products including the Mac Studio and Vision Pro, according to industry reports. Apple has also explored buying memory from Chinese suppliers such as CXMT and YMTC for devices sold in China, hoping that would free up higher-end supply from Samsung and SK hynix for other markets. But both Chinese firms remain on the US government’s blacklist, and the plan has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and from Micron Technology, which warned that loosening restrictions could damage the domestic industry.

That scrutiny has been matched by changing market conditions. PC Gamer and Tom’s Hardware reported that CXMT has been taking market share from Samsung, SK hynix and Micron, with some laptop makers already using small amounts of its DRAM in models sold outside the US. Even so, the reports say CXMT has enough committed business from Chinese customers, including Huawei and Xiaomi, that it does not need to undercut the established suppliers to win Apple’s orders. Tom’s Hardware also reported that Samsung has already agreed to sharply higher RAM pricing for Apple, underlining how much leverage suppliers now hold.

Apple’s bargaining position has weakened further because Samsung and SK hynix are shifting more of their output towards memory for AI infrastructure rather than consumer devices. Analysts quoted in the reports say that even if some planned data centres are delayed, the shortage will not ease quickly because the chips used in those facilities cannot simply be repurposed for iPhones or Macs. The broader market outlook remains tight well into the end of the decade, with some forecasts suggesting conditions may not improve until around 2030.