Apple has been hoping that memory made by China’s CXMT could prove a lower-cost solution to deal with the ongoing memory shortage and pricing. However, that seems to have backfired, as CXMT is demanding what Samsung gets paid for RAM, according other Korea’s Daily Digital.
The article says Apple recently negotiated the unit price of mobile DRAM such as CXMT and LPDDR5X to relieve the manufacturing cost pressure of the next iPhone and smart device lineup. However, the unit price reduction was rejected as “CXMT adhered to a higher or similar unit price compared to the supply price of Samsung Electronics or SK Hynix,” per the Daily Digital.
On July 1 it was reported that the tech giant was in talks to buy memory from Chinese semiconductor companies CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC). It was previously reported by The Financial Times that Apple had asked the Trump administration for permission to buy memory chips from CXMT.
The problem is (was?) that the Chinese company is on the Pentagon’s 1260H list of companies with alleged connections to the Chinese military. While Apple isn’t barred from using CXMT as a supplier, the iPhone maker is seeking guarantees CXMT won’t be added to the US’s so-called Entity List that would impose stiff licensing restrictions as Washington and Beijing play hardball over trade and rare earths.
If the Daily Digital report is right, getting a green light from the government for Chinese RAM purchases is now a moot point.
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Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today
