The U.S. government has openly put the brakes on Apple’s review of purchasing Chinese-made memory semiconductors. In a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) interview after touring Apple’s advanced manufacturing center in Houston, Texas, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, “The Trump administration does not support that.” The WSJ reported the interview on the 14th (local time).
“There must be another solution to the memory issue,” Lutnick said, adding that “it is not desirable for a great American company to use Chinese-made memory.” When asked whether he had directly conveyed opposition to Apple, he replied, “I did, clearly.”
◆ The memory crunch pushed Apple toward China
The trigger was a global shortage of memory chips. Memory semiconductors are storage chips that devices use to hold and retrieve data. As AI server companies have been absorbing massive volumes of memory, supply for smartphones and laptops has tightened and prices have soared.
Apple has not escaped the impact. In June, it raised prices for major products such as Macs and iPads, citing sharply rising memory costs.
Efforts to expand its supply sources turned toward China. According to the WSJ, Apple has spent months seeking approval to adopt chips from China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC).
It was also reported that Apple tested CXMT chips for iPhones and MacBooks sold in China. The Financial Times in the United Kingdom previously reported that Apple had sounded out the U.S. Commerce Department this summer about sourcing memory from China.
Apple has its own argument. Sabih Khan, Apple’s chief operating officer, told the WSJ that while many iPhone components are custom-made, “memory is not highly customized.” In other words, it is a standard product that could be used regardless of manufacturer, suggesting a lower barrier to adopting Chinese-made chips.
◆ Not a legal ban, but pressure that feels like one
Legally, Apple is not completely tied up. YMTC is on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List, but CXMT is not.
Both companies are on a list designated by the U.S. Department of Defense as tied to the Chinese military, but that designation is only a warning signal and does not prohibit civilian transactions. Standard chips can be purchased without government approval, while only custom-made chips may require authorization.
That is why Lutnick’s remarks are being interpreted as pressure rather than law. Analysts say Apple is burdened by the prospect of displeasing an administration that uses tariffs as a major weapon.
Congress has also imposed a deadline. Seven bipartisan U.S. senators, including Senator Chuck Schumer, sent Apple a letter demanding a pledge by the 21st that it would not use CXMT or YMTC memory in products sold worldwide.
In the House, calls have been made to place CXMT on the export control list. Foreign media reports also said U.S. memory company Micron and lawmakers from districts seeking semiconductor investment have been lobbying to stop purchases of Chinese-made chips.
Apple is not the only one facing this dilemma. According to the WSJ, HP and Acer have already begun using CXMT memory in products sold outside the United States. Lutnick also said Apple is being pressured “ruthlessly, and more” to expand production in the United States.
◆ Ripple effects reaching Samsung and SK hynix
In the short term, analysts are pointing to possible benefits for others. The global memory market is dominated by three players: Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Micron.
If Chinese-made chips are excluded by a major customer such as Apple, orders are likely to return to the existing top three. In a market where chips are already impossible to find, bargaining power shifts even further to suppliers.
Looking further ahead, there are also cautionary factors. Backed by Chinese government support, CXMT has rapidly expanded production, and like the HP and Acer cases, it is already broadening its sales channels in markets outside the United States.
Some observers say U.S. pressure could even accelerate the adoption of Chinese products in China’s domestic market. For Korean companies, the challenge is to use any temporary windfall to widen the technology gap.
Consumer costs remain a separate issue. If the bypass route for Chinese-made supply is blocked, shortages and upward price pressure are likely to continue, with the burden eventually passed on in the form of higher device prices.
The next turning point will be how Apple responds to the Senate’s August 21 deadline and whether placing CXMT on the export control list becomes reality. Depending on those decisions, the global memory supply map and the calculations of Korean companies are expected to be redrawn.