Apple is making an unusual and politically charged move to solve its memory cost problem. With Samsung having doubled DRAM prices earlier this year, Apple is now reportedly lobbying the US government to allow it to source RAM chips from China’s largest DRAM manufacturer — a company that’s reportedly on the Pentagon’s blacklist.
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The Core Problem: A Memory Crisis With No Quick Fix
According to Gizmochina’s report, citing analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Samsung raised RAM prices by 100% earlier this year — a hike Apple reportedly accepted without negotiation. That’s a staggering cost increase for a company that ships hundreds of millions of devices annually, and it directly explains the sweeping price hikes we’ve seen across Apple’s iPad, Mac, and HomePod lineup in India and globally.
| Memory Market Pressure | Detail |
|---|---|
| Samsung DRAM price hike | 100% increase in 2026 |
| Apple’s response | Accepted without negotiation |
| Supply crunch forecast | Could last through 2027 (Kuo) |
| LPDDR for mobile devices | Already affected |
| A20 chip orders | Potentially 10–20% lower than planned |
| Data center memory reallocation | 15–20% of consumer electronics allocation could shift to AI/data center in 2027 |
Lenovo has separately warned that elevated memory prices could become the “new normal” — a signal that this isn’t a short-term blip but a structural shift in the memory market driven by AI data centre demand absorbing supply that would otherwise go to consumer devices.
Who Is CXMT, and Why Is This Complicated?
ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is China’s largest domestic DRAM manufacturer. It’s emerged as a credible alternative to Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron for budget memory chips — but there’s a significant catch: CXMT is reportedly on the Pentagon’s blacklist due to alleged military ties, making any business transaction with them politically sensitive for a US company like Apple.
Apple is nevertheless actively lobbying Washington to keep CXMT off the formal US Entity List, which would allow it to explore sourcing deals. Kuo posted on X that Apple is doing this specifically to diversify its memory supply chain and reduce dependency on Samsung amid the ongoing price surge.
Will It Actually Solve Apple’s Memory Problem?
Probably not entirely — and Kuo is candid about this. CXMT’s production capacity is still relatively limited compared to the big three memory makers. Adding them as a supplier would reduce risk and give Apple negotiating leverage against Samsung, but it’s unlikely to dramatically cut costs or fully offset the supply crunch on its own.
The longer-term concern is Apple Intelligence. As Apple’s on-device AI features demand more RAM across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac lineup, the pressure on LPDDR memory supply only intensifies. The A20 chip powering the iPhone 18 Pro — details of which were recently exposed in the Tata Electronics cyberattack — may already be feeling this pinch in its initial order volumes.
What This Means for Indian Buyers
This memory crisis has a direct India connection. Apple’s recent price hikes across iPads, Macs, and HomePods in India — which we covered in detail in our Apple price hike coverage on TechnoSports — are a downstream consequence of exactly this supply chain pressure. If Apple successfully diversifies to CXMT, it could theoretically slow future hikes. If not, Tim Cook has already publicly signalled that prices will continue to climb.
The Bottom Line
Apple lobbying to source RAM from a Pentagon-blacklisted Chinese manufacturer is a remarkable signal of how severe the global memory crunch has become. The outcome of Washington’s decision will have ripple effects across iPhone pricing, Apple Intelligence capabilities, and the broader consumer electronics market well into 2027.
