Apple wants to buy memory chips from CXMT: will it ease tech giant’s cost woes?

Apple is lobbying the Trump administration for clearance to buy memory chips from Chinese manufacturer CXMT as the artificial intelligence boom pushes up semiconductor costs and strains global supply chains, Financial Times reported on Saturday.

The move underscores how even the world's largest consumer electronics company is scrambling to secure additional sources of memory as demand from AI data centres reshapes the semiconductor market.

The report, citing six people familiar with the matter, said Apple has mounted a lobbying campaign across the White House and other parts of the administration to ease financial pressure from soaring memory chip prices, which recently forced the company to raise prices on several MacBook and iPad models.

Apple seeks additional memory supply

According to the report, Apple first approached the Commerce Department more than a month ago and has since expanded its outreach to other administration officials and allies in Washington.

The company is seeking approval to source chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), one of China's leading DRAM manufacturers.

Apple is not currently prohibited from purchasing chips from CXMT or another Chinese memory producer, YMTC.

However, both companies have been placed on the Pentagon's Chinese Military Company blacklist over alleged links to the People's Liberation Army.

The Commerce Department also proposed adding CXMT to its Entity List last year, but the White House reportedly delayed the move while negotiating a trade truce with China.

People familiar with the discussions told the Financial Times that it remains unclear whether Apple will receive any assurances from the administration, particularly that CXMT will not later be added to the Entity List.

The uncertainty reflects broader tensions between Washington's national security priorities and the technology industry's growing dependence on semiconductor supply from Asia.

Last year, President Donald Trump approved Nvidia's sales of advanced H200 chips to China despite opposition from several administration officials.

AI boom intensifies pressure on memory markets

Apple's lobbying efforts come after the company suffered one of its sharpest market setbacks in years following its decision to raise MacBook and iPad prices because of what it described as "unsustainable" memory costs.

The price increases erased about $263 billion from Apple's market value in a single trading session, its second-largest one-day decline.

Securing CXMT as an additional supplier would help reduce Apple's dependence on existing memory manufacturers at a time when AI infrastructure investment is absorbing a growing share of global DRAM production.

"The memory supply-demand gap will keep widening through 2027. That is the real reason Apple is lobbying the White House to keep CXMT off the Entity List," TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a post on X.

He added that even successful lobbying would not fully resolve the shortage.

"CXMT states in its IPO prospectus that its capacity is far below domestic demand. Given the persistent global memory imbalance, even if Apple's lobbying succeeds and it buys DRAM from CXMT, that would not materially lower costs or fill the supply gap. Still, with the imbalance widening, Apple has every reason to secure an additional source."

Kuo said Apple's approach also differs from its earlier evaluation of YMTC in 2022.

"YMTC was mainly about lowering NAND costs; CXMT is about managing DRAM supply risk," he said.

He also suggested the lobbying effort carries reputational value regardless of the outcome.

"Tim Cook is one of the few tech leaders who can still navigate both Washington and Beijing, so this is better handled before he steps down as CEO. Even if the effort goes nowhere, the media coverage can still leave the market with the impression that Apple tried but was constrained by US policy. That may help ease frustration over price hikes and longer delivery times."

Apple's interest boosts CXMT's standing

On the other hand, the tech giant's reported interest represents an important endorsement of CXMT's technological progress, regardless of whether Washington ultimately approves purchases, say analysts.

Citi analysts said obtaining permission could prove difficult given the current US political climate.

However, they argued that Apple's consideration of the company as a supplier already marks a shift in how investors view the Chinese memory maker.

"Regardless of whether Apple gets the purchase approval, its consideration of CXMT as a potential supplier shifts market perception of CXMT from a domestic substitution play to a credible global No.4 DRAM maker," Citi said in a research note.