Overview
- Apple has taken its case to the White House, asking officials to allow purchases of DRAM from Chinese makers CXMT and YMTC to ease a severe memory shortage that has driven up device costs.
- Micron is lobbying senior U.S. officials to block the plan, arguing that allowing large imports from those Chinese firms would hollow out American memory manufacturing and weaken industrial incentives.
- Reports on Monday show the request is on President Trump’s desk while officials dispute whether Apple seeks the chips only for devices sold in China or for products shipped worldwide.
- Both CXMT and YMTC are labeled by the Pentagon as Chinese military‑linked firms and YMTC sits on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, making any clearance politically and legally sensitive.
- The choice carries tradeoffs: approval could lower consumer prices quickly but risk longer‑term damage to U.S. chipmaking, while a block would sustain high memory costs now and leave Micron’s multiyear factory investments to correct supply later.