Apple is lobbying the U.S. government for approval to source memory chips from Chinese manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT). The Pentagon currently includes CXMT on a list of companies with alleged ties to the Chinese military.
Memory chip prices have quadrupled over the past year. Suppliers are diverting production capacity to high-bandwidth memory for AI data centers, creating a severe global shortage.
Rising component costs forced Apple to increase prices for several Mac and iPad models by $100 to $500 on June 25. Apple is seeking a guarantee that the Commerce Department will not add CXMT to its restrictive Entity List.
The lobbying effort underscores the immense strain the AI hardware boom is placing on the global electronics supply chain. Apple can no longer fully absorb the financial impact of these rising costs.