Overview
- This week Apple intensified requests to the Commerce Department and other White House officials for assurances that it may buy DRAM from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) to relieve surging component costs.
- CXMT is listed by the Pentagon on the 1260H Chinese military‑linked registry and was routed last year for possible placement on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, which would require U.S. export licenses that are seldom granted.
- The chips Apple seeks are conventional DRAM used in phones, tablets and laptops, not high‑bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI accelerators; CXMT has rapidly expanded output and reported strong revenue growth as it prepares a Shanghai IPO.
- Lawmakers and some national‑security officials say any approval would carry major political and reputational risk for Apple and warned Congress would likely object, making formal licensing or a public waiver uncertain.
- If allowed, purchases could ease price pressure for consumers and shift global DRAM pricing, but the move could be reversible if CXMT is added to the Entity List and would tie Apple’s supply to a firm the U.S. views as linked to China’s military.