After months of lobbying the Trump administration for clearance to purchase Chinese memory chips, Apple appears to be nearing the point where it can tap China's domestic chip market. The push follows what the iPhone maker has described as "unsustainable" pricing from the memory "cartel," namely SK Hynix, Samsung, Micron, and SanDisk, whose production has been soaked up by unprecedented demand from hyperscalers.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday morning that Apple is closer than ever to using memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese company that the Pentagon has put on a blacklist because of alleged connections to the People's Liberation Army.
Apple is currently testing CXMT memory chips across its product portfolio, including iPhones and MacBooks, according to the report.
The report continued:
Apple has held early talks with CXMT about supplying components with the goal of using them in some devices sold in China, the people said. Apple hopes to win the White House's blessing to do business with the Chinese company.
Apple is raising prices on its products globally, blaming the rising cost of memory chips because of high demand from AI companies. Getting access to Chinese supplies could help the iPhone maker ease its crunch.
As we've co
