--- title: "Apple Asks Washington to Let It Buy Memory From a Blacklisted Chinese Chipmaker" description: "Apple has asked the U.S. government for assurances that it can buy memory chips from China's CXMT — a supplier Washington is moving to blacklist — as a severe, AI-driven shortage of memory pushes prices up and forces Apple to raise the cost of its products, according to a Financial Times report." category: "Tech" category_url: https://boursel.com/category/tech author: "Priya Venkatesan" published: 2026-06-28T08:43:40.000Z updated: 2026-06-28T08:43:40.000Z canonical: https://boursel.com/article/apple-asks-washington-to-let-it-buy-memory-from-a-blacklisted-chinese-chipmaker tags: ["apple", "cxmt", "semiconductors", "china", "export-controls", "memory"] --- # Apple Asks Washington to Let It Buy Memory From a Blacklisted Chinese Chipmaker Apple has asked the U.S. government for assurances that it can buy memory chips from China's CXMT — a supplier Washington is moving to blacklist — as a severe, AI-driven shortage of memory pushes prices up and forces Apple to raise the cost of its products, according to a Financial Times report. Apple is caught between a chip shortage and a trade war. The company has approached the U.S. government seeking assurances it can buy memory chips from **ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT)**, China's leading memory maker, even as Washington moves toward adding the firm to a trade blacklist, [the Financial Times reported](https://fortune.com/2026/06/27/apple-us-approval-chips-blacklisted-cxmt-price-hikes-mac-memory-shortage/), as relayed by Fortune. Apple is reported to have sought guarantees that CXMT will not be placed on the U.S. **Entity List**. ## What CXMT makes, and why Apple wants it CXMT produces **DRAM** — dynamic random-access memory, the fast "working memory" a phone or computer uses to run apps and hold data while powered on (distinct from long-term storage). DRAM is a commodity-like component, but right now it is scarce. The global market is dominated by three firms — South Korea's **Samsung** and **SK Hynix** and America's **Micron** — and CXMT is China's effort to break that grip. For Apple, a fourth major supplier means more leverage and more supply at a moment when both are in short supply. ## The shortage behind the story The squeeze traces to artificial intelligence. The memory leaders have shifted much of their production toward **high-bandwidth memory (HBM)** — the premium, high-margin chips that feed AI accelerators like Nvidia's — leaving less capacity for the ordinary DRAM that goes into consumer electronics. The result has been sharply rising memory prices industry-wide, with the crunch expected to persist into 2027, according to [Tom's Hardware](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/samsung-and-sk-hynix-warn-ai-driven-memory-shortages-could-last-until-2027-and-beyond-as-hbm-demand-explodes-customers-already-reserving-supply-years-ahead-while-the-wider-dram-market-begins-to-tighten). That cost pressure has reached consumers: Apple recently raised prices across several products, with reports putting some increases around 20%, [per 9to5Mac](https://9to5mac.com/2026/06/26/apple-asks-trump-admin-to-approve-chinese-ram-after-product-price-increases/) — and chief executive Tim Cook was reported to have signaled the company had little choice given component costs. Sourcing cheaper Chinese memory is one way to relieve that pressure. ## The blacklist problem Here is the catch. CXMT is not yet formally on the **Entity List** — the U.S. Commerce Department roster that requires American firms to obtain hard-to-get licenses before selling or, in practice, doing business with a listed company. But the firm already sits on the Pentagon's separate list of companies it deems linked to China's military, and U.S. agencies have reportedly agreed in principle to add CXMT to the Entity List, with the formal step delayed amid negotiations with Beijing. Apple's request for assurances is, in effect, an attempt to lock in access before that door potentially closes. ## The politics The ask lands in a charged debate. The U.S. has spent years tightening **export controls** — government limits on selling sensitive technology abroad — to slow China's chip ambitions, on the view that semiconductor leadership underpins both economic and military power. Allowing Apple, the most valuable U.S. company, to deepen its reliance on a Chinese memory champion cuts against that strategy. John Moolenaar, the Republican who chairs the House committee on China, called it a "grave mistake," arguing it would help Beijing tighten its hold on a critical supply chain. ## The bigger picture The episode captures Apple's central vulnerability: its deep dependence on China for both manufacturing and, increasingly, components, at a time when U.S. policy is pushing the other way. If Washington grants assurances, it eases Apple's cost problem but undercuts its own export-control regime; if it refuses, Apple faces pricier memory and the prospect of passing more of that on to customers. Either way, the standoff shows how the U.S.–China technology contest now reaches all the way down to the chips inside a new iPhone — and how even Apple cannot fully escape it. The status of Apple's request remains unresolved. ## Sources - [Apple wants permission to buy memory from a blacklisted China chipmaker](https://www.theverge.com/tech/958707/apple-ram-buy-memory-blacklisted-china-cxmt) - [Apple seeks US approval to buy chips from blacklisted CXMT (FT)](https://fortune.com/2026/06/27/apple-us-approval-chips-blacklisted-cxmt-price-hikes-mac-memory-shortage/)