Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says the US is “not in favor” of Apple buying Chinese memory chips, and there have to be “other solutions to the memory issue”
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s effort to add Chinese memory supply has moved from a clearance request to an explicit political objection. The company had sought approval to buy from blacklisted CXMT amid rising chip prices, while its testing required a custom component that US rules prevent it from helping design; its earlier CXMT clearance lobbying and custom-memory testing constraint frame why the administration’s position matters.
The dispute also reprises Apple’s 2022 retreat from YMTC after export restrictions. The latest stance narrows the company’s proposed route to easing memory-cost pressure even for products it had discussed selling outside the US.
First-order effects
- Apple must pursue the administration’s unspecified alternatives rather than rely on the Chinese-memory procurement path it had pitched for products sold outside the US.
- CXMT loses a prospective high-profile customer route just as PC makers have begun using its RAM chips; Apple’s custom-chip requirement was already an operational barrier.
Second-order effects
- US memory suppliers, including Micron—which warned Apple’s plan could damage the domestic chip industry—retain protection from Apple shifting demand to CXMT, while Apple’s sourcing and cost pressure remains unresolved.
- Apple’s component teams face added incentive to qualify non-Chinese memory options, because policy resistance compounds the technical limits on developing a CXMT-specific part.
Third-order effects
- If Commerce turns this position into sustained clearance policy, access to Chinese memory will be determined as much by US export-policy approval as by component price or technical fit.
- The episode points to a more segmented memory market: PC makers may adopt CXMT parts while Apple’s access is constrained by the different design and regulatory requirements of its devices.
The trend: Memory sourcing is becoming a policy-governed product constraint, with manufacturers’ ability to add second sources varying by device design and US export rules.