Apple in Talks to Buy Memory Chips From China's CXMT and YMTC as AI Squeezes Supply

Apple is in talks to buy memory chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), two Chinese chipmakers on a U.S. defense blacklist, as the AI boom triggers an unprecedented squeeze on global memory supply.

No deal has been finalized, but the discussions — first reported by Bloomberg — mark a remarkable turn: one of America's most valuable companies lobbying Washington for permission to source silicon from firms the Pentagon says support the People's Liberation Army.

The memory crunch forcing Apple's hand

The world's memory makers — Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron — have redirected production toward high-bandwidth memory and server DRAM for AI data centers, leaving consumer devices fighting over a shrinking pool of supply. Contract prices for mobile DRAM and NAND have surged, and Apple has already warned that memory costs will pressure margins into 2027.

Adding CXMT and YMTC would expand Apple's memory supplier roster to five. Apple's proposed compromise: use the Chinese-made chips primarily in devices sold in the Chinese market, freeing up Korean and American supply for iPhones and Macs sold in the West.

Political friction

Both CXMT and YMTC sit on the congressionally mandated 1260H list of companies the U.S. Defense Department has linked to China's military. Some Trump administration officials are reportedly opposed to granting Apple an exception, and the talks could yet collapse under political pressure.

The stakes ripple far beyond Cupertino. News of the discussions knocked Samsung and SK Hynix shares lower in Seoul last week, as investors weighed the prospect of Chinese memory makers — long dismissed as technological laggards — winning validation from the industry's most demanding customer.

For Beijing, an Apple deal would be a landmark: proof that its subsidized memory champions can compete at the top of the global supply chain, export controls notwithstanding.