Apple seeks US nod to buy blacklisted CXMT's memory chips as costs jump

The iPhone maker is seeking assurances that ChangXin Memory Technologies will not face tighter US export restrictions as it looks to manage rising memory chip costs

Apple is seeking approval from the White House to purchase memory chips from blacklisted Chinese company ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) as it grapples with rising chip costs, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

 

The US technology company has been lobbying officials at the Commerce Department and other parts of the Trump administration for the green light to buy chips from CXMT, which is on the Pentagon's 1260H list of companies with alleged links to the Chinese military, the report said, citing six people familiar with the matter.

 

While Apple is not barred from using CXMT as a supplier, the iPhone maker is seeking assurances that the company will not be added to the US Entity List, which would impose stringent licensing restrictions, as Washington and Beijing continue trade and rare earth negotiations.

 

 

Apple declined to comment, while the White House did not respond to the Financial Times' request for comment.

 

Apple this week raised prices across its Mac, iPad, home devices and Vision Pro product lines as it sought to offset higher costs caused by an unprecedented shortage of memory chips and storage.