Apple Seeks US Clearance For CXMT Memory As Chip Prices Rise
Apple is seeking US clearance to buy memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese supplier on a Pentagon blacklist, after higher memory and storage chip prices pushed up costs for several Macs and iPads.
Apple Pushes For CXMT Clearance
Apple is seeking US government clearance to buy memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese supplier on the Pentagon's Chinese Military Company blacklist.
The request comes as higher memory and storage chip prices pressure Apple hardware costs during a global memory supply shortage.
The company contacted the Commerce Department about the matter a month ago and later widened its lobbying effort.
Apple is not directly barred from buying chips from CXMT or YMTC.
Both Chinese memory companies are still on the 1260H list, which contains groups the Pentagon says have alleged links to the People's Liberation Army.
That status makes the sourcing route politically sensitive even without a direct purchase ban.
A license or clearance from Washington would give Apple a cleaner path to use Chinese memory suppliers while avoiding a direct clash with US national-security restrictions.
Memory Prices Hit Product Costs
Apple raised prices for several Macs and iPads on Thursday and cited higher memory and storage chip costs.
Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal a week earlier that Apple had no choice but to lift prices.
Cook also said Chinese memory suppliers should remain part of the supply discussion if US approvals allow it.
The sequence connects product pricing, component availability and US technology controls.
Apple is trying to widen its memory options after price increases failed to solve the pressure from higher chip costs.
CXMT would offer another supply route, but Washington's blacklist keeps the decision outside a normal procurement process.
Approval Route Remains Unclear
The request puts the procurement decision under US export-control review.
Apple wants more supply options during a memory shortage, while US officials have already linked CXMT and YMTC to national-security concerns through the Pentagon blacklist.
The public record still lacks the products that would use CXMT memory, the volume it wants to buy, or a Commerce Department approval timeline.
Regulatory clearance now sits ahead of procurement as the main condition for any CXMT supply deal.
