Apple Lobbies Trump Administration to Approve Purchases of China's CXMT Memory Chips

The global buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure is redirecting memory capacity toward high-bandwidth memory and server-grade DRAM, tightening supplies available for consumer electronics and raising component-cost risks. For Apple, one of the world’s largest chip buyers, broadening its supplier base could protect margins and production continuity. The issue also carries strategic weight in China, where the company faces pressure to keep iPhone and MacBook pricing competitive while navigating a more localized semiconductor supply chain.

Apple is testing DRAM made by China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, for possible use in iPhones and MacBooks sold in the Chinese market, according to recent reports. The evaluation could give Apple another source of conventional memory as AI customers absorb available supply. Yet CXMT’s own capacity constraints may limit how quickly it can ease the shortage. As of the reports, Apple and CXMT had disclosed no purchase value, order volume, firm qualification date or deployment timetable, leaving commercial adoption uncertain.

A surge in artificial-intelligence data-center construction is absorbing advanced memory-chip capacity, driving up prices and increasing cost pressure across the consumer-electronics industry. Apple is seeking access to lower-cost memory from China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT. The proposal has become a sensitive test for the White House, pitting its efforts to contain consumer prices against US restrictions intended to protect semiconductor supply chains and limit China’s technological advance.

Apple has recently lobbied the White House to permit purchases from CXMT, drawing fierce opposition from Micron Technology. The US memory-chip maker warned that allowing Chinese supply could weaken America’s semiconductor manufacturing base, while a bipartisan group of lawmakers has also pressed Apple to abandon the plan. As of July 31, 2026, the reports cited no proposed purchase value or firm decision date, leaving the administration to weigh near-term price relief against its broader China chip policy.

The rapid expansion of AI data centers has driven demand for high-bandwidth memory, prompting suppliers to prioritize higher-margin products and squeezing the DRAM and storage chips used in consumer electronics. Apple raised MacBook prices by $100 to $300 and iPad prices by $100 to $200 on June 25 as component costs climbed. Its consideration of memory chips from China's ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, a company on a Pentagon blacklist, underscores how the shortage is colliding with U.S.-China security policy.

Ro Khanna, the ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, told Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a July 22 letter that the Trump administration was delaying or reconsidering CHIPS and Science Act awards to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. He said the policy was hindering U.S. capacity expansion and raising electronics prices. Khanna also sought clarity on whether Washington would permit companies such as Apple to source from CXMT, and requested a Commerce Department response by August 15.

The global DRAM market is dominated by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron, and Apple has long sourced memory from all three suppliers. China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, is a major DRAM producer. Its entry into Apple’s supply chain could reshape pricing negotiations while raising questions about US-China technology controls and supply-chain security.

A new report said Apple is testing CXMT DRAM and consulting with the Trump administration to assess the political risks of purchasing the chips. Analysts said the move was intended to push down contract prices from Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron. The report did not disclose the testing date, purchase value or volume. CXMT is also accelerating development of bonded DRAM technology for AI servers.