Apple Eyeing A Partnership With Chinese Memory Makers YMTC And CXMT As The Big Three Adopt Hardball Tactics

Apple is apparently considering the pitfalls of turning to Chinese memory makers, YMTC and CXMT, to satiate its thirst for memory resources. While details are scarce at the moment, the gambit might simply be Apple's way of countering the hardball negotiation tactics employed by the so-called big three - SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron - as well as KIOXIA.

Apple is reportedly exploring a partnership with YMTC and CXMT

For the benefit of those who might not be aware, Apple secures its DRAM resources primarily from Samsung Electronics, which accounts for around 60 percent of the DRAM supply for the iPhone 17 lineup. Even so, the Cupertino giant also taps SK hynix and Micron to plug its residual DRAM demand.

On the NAND front, Samsung, SK hynix, and KIOXIA (previously known as Toshiba Memory) are the major suppliers for Apple.

We noted recently that Apple has managed to secure access to sufficient NAND resources through the first quarter of 2026.  Even so, KIOXIA is expected to raise its prices for Apple once a long-term NAND supply agreement is signed. Moreover, Apple has only managed to secure access to DRAM resources for the first half of 2026.

This comes as TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo noted back in January 2026 that Apple could substantially boost its market share in the ongoing chaos by absorbing memory price hikes and sacrificing some of its already hefty margins. Of course, this is easier said than done, especially as the analyst noted that Apple will now have to negotiate memory prices every quarter instead of biannually.

Of course, during Apple's last earnings call, Tim Cook was quick to note that Apple has "arranged" the required memory and that the company can push different levers to secure the required components, suggesting that the memory-led disruption remains at a manageable level for Apple right now.

Even so, Apple does face the specter of a significant hit to its margins. For instance, we reported recently that KIOXIA has reportedly only agreed to supply NAND resources to Apple for the ongoing quarter at 2x the previous prices. What's more, the firm is insisting on negotiating the prices on a quarter-to-quarter basis. This pricing regime complicates Apple's ambitions of eschewing a price hike for the base storage variants of the upcoming iPhone 18 lineup.

Enter the Chinese players

This brings us to the core of today's topic. According to Ijiwei, "Apple has planned to explore cooperation with Chinese memory chip manufacturers Yangtze Storage (YMTC) and Changxin Storage (CXMT) to strive for more favorable supply contracts [from the big three]."

This is, of course, a high-stakes gamble on the part of Apple. On the bright side, the move might give the Cupertino giant some much-needed leverage in its negotiations with major global suppliers of memory resources.

After all, the Chinese memory makers are rapidly catching up, as illustrated by the fact that China's leading memory manufacturer, CXMT, is about to commence the mass production of HBM3 chips, which while still not able to match the technological prowess of the so-called big three, do represent a profound indication of China's emerging economies of scale in the memory sphere. On the NAND front, the technological gap between Chinese companies and their Western counterparts is even narrower.

On the other hand, the move can equally backfire. After all, who can forget the brief but dramatic development on February 13 when CXMT and YMTC were briefly included in the Pentagon's 'Restricted Companies' list? Meanwhile, this game of moves and countermoves continues.

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