Apple Pushes White House to Buy Chips From Blacklisted CXMT
Apple is lobbying the White House for permission to source memory chips from blacklisted Chinese firm CXMT to cut costs.
Apple is going straight to the top. The iPhone maker is pressing the White House for a special license to buy memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese semiconductor company that sits on a U.S. blacklist, according to a Financial Times report published Saturday. This isn't a quiet back-channel ask — Apple wants a formal green light to do business with a restricted entity.
The driving force here is cost. Apple is hunting for ways to slash its chip bill, and CXMT apparently offers pricing that catches the company's attention. Memory chips are a core component across iPhones, iPads, and Macs, so even a modest per-unit saving multiplies fast at Apple's scale. Getting access to a blacklisted Chinese supplier, though, is a politically loaded ask — especially with U.S.-China tech tensions still running hot.
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For traders, this story cuts two ways. If Apple lands the waiver, it's a margin win and potentially a headache for incumbent memory suppliers like Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung, who compete directly in the segments CXMT targets. If the White House says no — or drags its feet — Apple stays squeezed on component costs at a moment when the company is already navigating tariff pressure and has been hiking prices on iPads and Macs.
Watch how the Biden-to-Trump trade policy lens shapes this decision. The current administration has shown little appetite for softening chip restrictions on China. Apple's lobbying play is bold, but the political math is tough. This one is worth tracking closely if you hold AAPL or have exposure to the memory chip space.
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