Apple Seeks CXMT Chip Clearance as Memory Shortage Drives Product Price Hikes
Updated
Updated · 9to5Mac · Jun 26
Apple Seeks CXMT Chip Clearance as Memory Shortage Drives Product Price Hikes
3 articles · Updated · 9to5Mac · Jun 26
Summary
Apple has expanded lobbying of the Trump administration to win clearance to buy memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese supplier on the Pentagon’s blacklist, according to the Financial Times.
A month after first contacting the Commerce Department, Apple intensified its push as a global memory shortage lifted chip costs and squeezed manufacturing economics.
CXMT and YMTC are not outright off-limits to Apple, but their inclusion on the Pentagon’s 1260H Chinese Military Company list complicates purchases and likely requires US approval.
Thursday price increases for Macs and iPads underscored the pressure: Apple cited higher memory and storage costs after Tim Cook said last week that all supply options should be considered.
The lobbying effort highlights how supply-chain stress is colliding with US national-security restrictions on Chinese tech groups alleged to have ties to the PLA.