According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, Apple has been testing memory chips from China's CXMT across product lines including iPhones and MacBooks to mitigate a component shortage fueled by the AI boom. The tech giant held preliminary discussions with CXMT, which is China's largest chipmaker by market value, about becoming a supplier to incorporate the chips into devices sold in the Chinese market. As per the Wall Street Journal, the report cites people familiar with the matter, though Reuters could not immediately verify the claims. The company has been testing CXMT's DRAM chips for several months, with an eye toward integrating them into iPhones, MacBooks, and other devices. Apple is seeking approval from the White House before moving forward with any deal involving the Chinese firm, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the component shortage is being driven by the AI boom, prompting major technology companies to seek alternative suppliers. According to the report, laptop makers HP and Acer have started using CXMT memory chips in devices sold outside the US to ease supply shortages, demonstrating the widespread impact of the current supply constraints. The Wall Street Journal notes that these diversification efforts are particularly relevant as the AI boom continues to drive increased demand for memory and processing chips across multiple industries. Memory prices have been on a tear, with DRAM contract prices rising by as much as 20% in the last quarter alone, according to market analysts, as the AI boom has created a voracious appetite for high-bandwidth memory that is crowding out traditional DRAM production. Apple is raising prices on its products worldwide, a move it has attributed to surging memory-chip costs fueled by heavy demand from AI companies, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Apple's interest in CXMT comes with significant political and regulatory baggage, as CXMT is on the U.S. Department of Defense's list of Chinese military-linked entities and has been flagged for scrutiny by the Commerce Department. U.S. export controls prohibit domestic companies from sharing proprietary technical information or detailed product specifications with CXMT, effectively ruling out custom orders from CXMT. However, the rules do allow Apple to purchase off-the-shelf CXMT components and negotiate pricing, according to Kevin Wolf, a lawyer at Akin Gump who advises companies on export controls, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. To proceed with broader use, Apple is actively lobbying the Biden administration for clearance, hoping to secure an exemption that would allow it to use the chips more broadly. A former U.S. trade official noted that "Apple is walking a tightrope, trying to maintain their relationship with China while satisfying U.S. regulators." An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the talks, but sources say the company is optimistic about getting approval. Seeking political coverage from the Trump administration could help the company avoid intense backlash in Washington over its reliance on Chinese semiconductor suppliers, as American lawmakers have raised alarm over potential deals between leading U.S. firms and CXMT.
CXMT wouldn't fully solve Apple's supply problem, as the company has maxed out its production capacity this year, leaving little room to take on new international customers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Many CXMT chips are priced in line with—and sometimes above—comparable products from Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, a pricing pattern driven partly by tight supply and higher production costs relative to its foreign rivals. HP and Acer have already secured limited volumes from CXMT and are working to lock in larger supplies for next year, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The memory industry continues to grapple with supply constraints, with a major memory manufacturer noting that "the AI data-center boom is absorbing a huge portion of DRAM output, we're seeing allocation issues across the board." Rising memory prices have already begun weighing on shipments of PCs and smartphones, highlighting the broader impact of the current supply shortage. As Apple awaits Washington's decision, the company is also ramping up its use of other memory suppliers, including South Korean and Taiwanese makers.
CXMT has grown rapidly from a mostly domestic manufacturer into a genuinely significant global DRAM producer, with 2025 DRAM market share hitting around 7.7%, making it the world's fourth largest DRAM manufacturer behind Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology. CXMT recently went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, becoming mainland China's most valuable listed corporation with a market capitalisation of roughly $520 billion. CXMT keeps expanding its manufacturing footprint, with Reuters reporting the company's planning another 12-inch DRAM plant in Beijing and additional production projects that could push capacity up substantially. However, CXMT still trails Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron in some of the more advanced memory categories, particularly high bandwidth memory (HBM), which is heavily used in AI accelerators. For Apple, the real question isn't simply whether CXMT can make competitive DRAM anymore, but whether the company can actually deliver enough reliable memory at the right time under commercial and regulatory conditions Apple's willing to accept. Adopting standard, off-the-shelf CXMT chips presents engineering hurdles for Apple, which historically customises hardware to optimise performance, requiring structural redesigns of internal device architecture. Despite these headwinds, CXMT remains the world's fastest-growing DRAM supplier, commanding 7% of the global market by revenue, with second-quarter revenue surging over eightfold compared to the previous year.
