Apple is reportedly evaluating a new memory supplier for its iPhones in China. The company has begun testing DRAM chipsets from Chinese memory maker CXMT. This could reduce its dependence on existing suppliers while helping navigating the ongoing RAM crisis.
Apple Seeks CXMT's Assistance to Battle Memory Crisis
According to a recent report from Financial Times, Apple has begun testing memory chips from China's ChanXin Memory Technologies. The memory is currently being evaluated specifically for Apple smartphones slated to be sold in the Chinese market.
This development arrives as the tech industry faces a major RAM crisis driven by AI. With major semiconductor manufacturers prioritising HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) for AI data centres, the traditional DRAM supply has tightened quite a bit.
However, by testing chips from CXMT, the world's fourth-largest DRAM maker at this point, Apple is actively looking to diversify its supply chain and secure necessary components. This move makes sense, especially since the iPhone 17 sales dominated in China.
Besides, the switch to CXMT memory could greatly help reduce the brand's reliance on international players like Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron to fulfil its massive regional memory requirements. For those unaware, China accounts for roughly 20% of Apple's total revenue.
It also gives Apple more room to manoeuvre around the current supply bottlenecks. Leaning on a domestic supplier can meaningfully cut costs and locking in a steady, reliable supply from a rapidly scaling producer like CXMT could help keep that pipeline uninterrupted.
This is a buffer Apple clearly needs heading into a period of tight global memory supply. In fact, Apple has already increased prices on iPads, Macs and Home devices in response to the crisis, even as it's kept the iPhone's pricing untouched for now.
That's likely why a CMXT partnership matters most for China specifically, as it could shield the Chinese iPhone market from similar price inflation. The same protection doesn't necessarily extend to international markets like India.
While there were reports that Apple is lobbying the Trump administration to buy memory chips from CXMT and bring them to the US iPhone supply, the fact that CXMT has been blacklisted by the US will not make it an easy affair.
