Apple wants to buy RAM from blacklisted partners

According to the Financial Times, Apple worked with President Trump's administration and the US Department of Commerce more than a month ago, with the goal of being approved to buy RAM for Macs from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT).

Apple's move comes in the context of the global technology industry falling into the memory chip crisis. The explosion of AI data centers causes the supply of DRAM and NAND flash to dry up, pushing the prices of smartphone and computer components to skyrocket. Apple even lost its position as TSMC's number one customer to Nvidia, when Nvidia's complex AI GPU models accounted for 19-22% of TSMC's revenue, surpassing Apple's 18%.

Apple's barrier is that CXMT is on the US Department of Defense's "1260H Black List" due to suspicion of being related to the Chinese military. Legally, the list does not prohibit civil companies like Apple from transacting. But if they shake hands, Apple will immediately be banned from selling products and services to the US Department of Defense - an important customer of the company.

Besides, CXMT's position in the US is very precarious. In 2025, the US Department of Commerce wants to put CXMT on the "Entity List" with a comprehensive embargo similar to Huawei's case. Although the US government has postponed trade negotiations with China, the risk of CXMT being prevented in the future is still very large.

Apple's proposal is facing fierce opposition from American politicians. John Moolenaar, Chairman of the House Committee on China, warned that this would be a serious mistake, making the US technology industry increasingly dependent on China's supply chain.

This is not the first time Apple wants to buy products from an embargoed company. In 2022, the company intended to buy YMTC memory chips for the iPhone but had to cancel the plan under heavy pressure from US lawmakers.

From an economic perspective, finding suppliers to lower product prices is Apple's responsibility to shareholders and consumers, in the context that the company has recently had to increase prices of iPads and MacBooks. However, Apple's diplomatic efforts are expected to face many challenges. If the White House refuses, consumers will suffer by having to bear increasingly expensive equipment prices.

Huy Duc