Apple has reportedly sought approval from the US government to purchase memory chips from China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), a company that has been placed on a Pentagon blacklist, according to a Financial Times report.
The iPhone maker has been lobbying the Trump administration for clearance to ease rising pressure from surging memory chip prices, which have been driven by increased demand from the global artificial intelligence and data centre boom. The report cited unidentified sources familiar with the matter.
CXMT, China’s largest memory chip manufacturer, has been designated as a Chinese military-linked company by the US Department of Defense and is also listed for potential inclusion on the Commerce Department’s Entity List. Companies on this list cannot supply goods, software, or technology to US firms without special licenses, which are generally difficult to obtain.
The development highlights the growing challenges faced by major US technology companies, which are caught between escalating hardware costs and tightening national security restrictions on Chinese semiconductor firms.
Apple recently raised prices for its iPad and MacBook products, stating that it could no longer fully absorb the rising costs of memory and storage chips linked to global supply chain pressures.
Neither Apple, CXMT, nor the White House responded to requests for comment. The report underscores the increasing tension between commercial supply needs and geopolitical restrictions in the global semiconductor industry.
