Overview
- Apple has spent more than a month petitioning the Commerce Department and other White House officials for clearance to buy DRAM from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), and stepped up those efforts after it raised MacBook and iPad prices on Thursday.
- CXMT is listed on the Pentagon’s 1260H Chinese military company registry and was approved by an interagency committee for placement on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, which would require export licences that are commonly denied.
- Key lawmakers have warned they would strongly oppose any U.S. company deal with CXMT, with the Republican chair of the House China Committee calling such a partnership a “grave mistake,” creating a major political barrier to approval.
- The push reflects an acute DRAM shortage driven by AI data‑centre spending that has diverted production to high‑bandwidth memory and squeezed supply for consumer devices, prompting Apple to seek alternative sources to ease rising BOM costs.
- CXMT has rapidly expanded capacity and reported steep revenue growth while preparing a Shanghai IPO, a development that could reshape supplier options if Washington allows trade but would also expose Apple to reputational risk and potential future export‑control disruption.