Apple weighs CXMT chips amid supply strain

Apple is evaluating memory chips produced by Chinese manufacturer CXMT for possible use in several product lines, including iPhones and MacBooks. The testing forms part of efforts to secure additional sources of memory at a time of strong demand. Discussions between Apple and CXMT remain preliminary and are centered on supplying devices destined for the Chinese market.

Any move from testing to commercial supply would depend on regulatory clearance. Apple is seeking approval from the White House before advancing with a deal involving CXMT, reflecting the role of U.S. policy in shaping component sourcing decisions.

U.S. export-control rules limit the way American companies can work with CXMT. These restrictions prohibit sharing technology in ways that would enable the kind of detailed technical collaboration typically required for custom memory chips. As a result, any arrangement would need to rely on CXMT’s existing, off‑the‑shelf components rather than designs tailored specifically for Apple.

The same regulations, however, permit U.S. firms to buy standard CXMT products and negotiate pricing. This creates a narrow but usable path for Apple or other U.S. companies to source memory from CXMT while remaining within current policy bounds.

CXMT is already running close to its production limits this year, leaving only limited room to accommodate additional international customers in the near term. Some PC makers, including HP and Acer, have secured modest volumes of CXMT memory and are seeking to lock in larger allocations for next year.

The constrained capacity means that even if Apple proceeds with CXMT as a supplier, immediate relief to global memory tightness would likely be limited. Any substantial increase in shipments would depend on future capacity expansions and allocation decisions across CXMT’s customer base.

CXMT recently completed a listing in Shanghai and has become mainland China’s most valuable listed chipmaker. The company is benefiting from strong demand for memory, including in data-intensive and AI-related applications.

In the second quarter, CXMT’s DRAM revenue rose by more than eight times compared with a year earlier, supported by both demand strength and expanding capacity. This growth underpins its rising importance in the global memory supply landscape as large electronics makers evaluate it as a potential source of additional chips.