Apple appears adamant to break through the memory-related constraints imposed by Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron, and is willing to take on a sizable political risk by lobbying the eminently mercurial Trump administration on behalf of China's CXMT.
While this gambit is quite risky, it is nonetheless the only viable option for Apple to gain access to the required memory resources at affordable prices short of setting up its own memory fabs.
Apple wants explicit clearance from the Trump administration to procure bulk shipments of DRAM from China's CXMT
The Financial Times is now reporting that Apple has begun lobbying the Trump administration for clearance to buy memory chips from CXMT, which remains in a Pentagon blacklist for its connections to China's People Liberation Army.
As part of its efforts, Apple has already approached the US Commerce Department, and is also actively advocating for this dispensation by targeting "other officials across the administration and allies in Washington."
Do note that Apple has just implemented sweeping price hikes across its Mac and iPad lineup after blaming a historic squeeze in memory prices, with Cook declaring to the Wall Street Journal just a few days back that the ongoing surge in memory chip prices was unlike anything he had seen "in any area in over 40 years."
As we noted recently, after undergoing a 3x increase since Q1 2025, LPDDR5X 12GB contract prices were hovering at around $120 towards the tail-end of Q1 and into Q2 2026, and have increased by $68.8 since the start of the year to hit $145 per unit recently, with flash storage costs adding additional pressures.
To get an idea of just how dire this situation has become for Apple, consider the fact that memory and flash storage costs made up just around 9 percent of Apple's BOM for the 256GB iPhone 17 Pro back in 2025. However, these two components will make up a whopping 27 percent of the BOM for the upcoming 256GB variant of the iPhone 18 Pro.
Meanwhile, China's CXMT is perhaps the only company in the world that can offer Apple memory-related salvation. After all, CXMT is aggressively expanding its capacity right now, to the tune of 300,000 wafers per month by the end of this year from its current capacity of just around 200,000 wafers per month.
Even if CXMT is unable to fulfill Apple's entire demand load, its incursion into Apple's supply chain will allow the iPhone maker to then drive a hard bargain with the so-called 'Big Three.'
Finally, if the Trump administration does grant Apple's CXMT-related request, the flash storage giant YMTC will almost certainly follow suit, marking China's remarkable re-entry within Apple's logistics.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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