Apple has a plan for its memory problem. The only problem is that it goes through a company on the US blacklist, according to FT

The perfect storm hits the memory market and shakes consumer electronics like we have rarely seen. This stretch of the year has become a bad time to update your computerbuy a console or even expand the RAM of a gaming desktop with a new module. The effects They also reach storage units and other components that until not so long ago seemed more or less predictable. Looking back, that problem with graphics cards during the rise of cryptocurrency mining It begins to seem, for many users, almost small next to what we are seeing now.

For months, some large manufacturers have tried to buy time with a tool that the user does not see: inventory. Lenovo is a good example. According to statements by its financial director, Winston Cheng, collected by Bloomberg TV and later cited by various mediathe company even had stocks of memory and other critical components around 50% higher than usual to cushion the blow of shortages and price increases. This type of mattress helps to resist better than others, but it also has a limit when the market continues to tighten.

Memory has become a problem for Apple, prices and geopolitics

And that’s where Apple comes in. We are not talking about a small company trapped by a specific increase in costsbut one of the companies with the most negotiating power in the entire technology industry. Its supply chain has been operating with extraordinary precision for years, supported by huge agreements, global suppliers and a purchasing power that few can match. Precisely for this reason it is so significant that, according to Financial TimesApple would also be looking new ways to relieve memory pressure.

The path that has come to light is especially delicate. According to the British business newspaper, Apple is pressuring the Trump Administration to obtain authorization, or at least a favorable signal, that allows it to buy memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese manufacturer singled out by the Pentagon for his alleged links with the People’s Liberation Army. The media adds that the company approached the Department of Commerce more than a month ago and has also sought support in other parts of Washington. The goal would be to alleviate the financial pressure caused by the rising cost of memory.

If you’ve been following Apple for a while, you probably already know: these types of moves are almost never made public. The company does not usually explain its internal purchasing operations, much less its conversations with suppliers or administrations. Financial Times attributes the information to six people familiar with the mattera relevant basis to take it seriously, but we are not facing official confirmation from Apple, the White House or the Department of Commerce.

To understand the dimension of the movement, CXMT must be well located. We are not talking about a brand of consumer RAM that the user chooses in a store, but about ChangXin Memory Technologiesa Chinese DRAM manufacturer founded in 2016. The company presents itself as a supplier of chips for mobile phones, PCs, tablets, servers and other equipment, memory that can then end up integrated into finished products. In the case of Apple, therefore, the debate is not about a visible brand, but about who supplies a particularly sensitive internal part.

The search for alternatives does not come out of nowhere. It’s no secret that the memory industry is highly concentrated on Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix, the DRAM suppliers that Apple relies on for its devices. When the market is balanced, that dependence can be managed with contracts, volume and planning. When prices rise sharply, however, each additional supplier counts. CXMT appears there as a possible way to add capacity.

As we have seen, what is behind it is not just an isolated increase in prices, but a change of priorities. The AI ​​craze has put advanced memory at the center of the data center business, especially HBM, needed to power high-performance servers and accelerators. That demand has contributed to a prolonged shortage of traditional memory for consumer electronics. That is why the problem is felt in very different products: not because they all use the same memory, but because they compete, directly or indirectly, for a limited industrial capacity.

At Apple, that pressure has ended up reaching the showcase. The company raised the prices of MacBooks and iPads by around 20% and attributed the movement to some “unsustainable” memory prices. The same medium maintains that the decision had an immediate stock market impact: $263 billion less in capitalization, Apple’s second largest daily drop. It is advisable to read these figures together, because they tell something broader than a specific increase: when memory triggers, even a company used to protecting its margins begins to transfer tension to the final product.

The expression “blacklist” helps to understand the seriousness of the matter, but it can lead to a conclusion that is too quick. CXMT is on the Pentagon’s 1260H list for its alleged links with the People’s Liberation Army, a very sensitive label in the midst of the technological rivalry between the US and China. However, according to the Financial Times, that designation does not automatically prevent Apple from purchasing chips from CXMT or YMTC.

The issue is what would happen if the US hardens its position later. The British economic newspaper says that the Department of Commerce had already included CXMT in a package of Chinese companies candidates to enter the Entity List, a much more restrictive trade listbut that the White House asked to wait for negotiations with Beijing. That background explains why the company would want a political signal before moving. It is not enough for a door to be open today if tomorrow it can be closed with Apple inside.

John Moolenaar, Republican chairman of the House China committee, told the same newspaper that partnering with a Chinese military company would be “a serious mistake.” He also argued that helping the “Chinese Communist Party” dominate critical supply chains would make the US economy and technology industry more dependent on China. The phrase summarizes the conflict well: for Apple it may be a supply outlet, but for part of Washington it would be a strategic concession.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Apple has found itself in a similar position. In 2022, the company already received criticism when it studied buying memory chips from YMTC for iPhones destined for the Chinese market. Then, Marco Rubio, who was the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, He told the same media that Apple was “playing with fire”. He also warned that the company would expose itself to an unprecedented level of federal scrutiny if it went ahead. That episode now serves as a precedent: Chinese memory is not a new issue for Apple, but the context is more tense.

The paradox is that all this is born from a component that for years seemed condemned to go unnoticed. The memory was there, inside the devices, as another part of the technical sheet, until AI, scarcity, prices and the rivalry between the US and China have made it a much more visible piece. Apple is looking for margin in an increasingly narrow market, but the possible exit also has a strategic price. And that sums up the moment well: even the quietest components can end up at the center of a global dispute.

Images | Xataka with Nano Banana

In Xataka | We thought we had passed the worst of the memory crisis. We were totally wrong