Apple Tests Chinese Memory Chips for China Market While Lobbying Washington for Broader Approval

Apple has begun testing DRAM chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies, a state-backed Chinese chipmaker known as CXMT, for use in devices sold within China, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is simultaneously lobbying the U.S. government to permit wider use of CXMT's products.

The move places Apple at the center of an increasingly sensitive geopolitical debate over American companies' reliance on Chinese suppliers, coming as Washington intensifies efforts to limit Beijing's advances in semiconductor technology.

CXMT is currently the world's fourth-largest producer of DRAM — a type of memory chip used in products ranging from smartphones to servers. Its global market share stood at roughly 11% last year and is projected to climb to 15% by 2028 as new production lines come online in the Chinese cities of Hefei, Shanghai, and Beijing, according to data from SemiAnalysis. The company's main competitors in DRAM include Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology.

Beyond its chip ambitions, CXMT is expected to become one of the most profitable technology companies to list in Shanghai. The company reportedly plans to raise at least 29.5 billion yuan, equivalent to approximately $4.3 billion, in an upcoming IPO. At least 15 state-owned shareholders collectively hold 36% of CXMT, with many of its private funds also carrying backing from state-owned limited partners.

This is not the first time Apple's interest in Chinese memory suppliers has drawn scrutiny. In 2022, the company faced significant pushback from U.S. policymakers — including then-Senator Marco Rubio, who now serves as Secretary of State — after it explored similar supplier relationships.

The Trump administration has, separately, held off on adding CXMT, AI startup DeepSeek, and more than 100 other companies to its trade blacklist, despite those entities having been flagged as national security risks, as officials seek to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing.

Ray Wang, a memory analyst at SemiAnalysis, told the Financial Times that CXMT is unlikely to immediately flood the market with cheap chips, as its output is largely pre-committed. Even so, the industry harbors longer-term concerns, pointing to patterns seen in solar panels and electric vehicles, where state-backed capacity expansion eventually drove down global prices and squeezed foreign competitors.

Neither Apple nor CXMT responded to requests for comment.

Apple's evaluation of CXMT chips reflects the compounding pressures the company faces in China — its largest manufacturing base and one of its most important consumer markets — as it navigates a supply chain increasingly caught between U.S. export restrictions and Beijing's push to build a self-sufficient AI and semiconductor ecosystem. How Washington responds to Apple's lobbying effort is likely to set a precedent for how other American hardware companies handle similar sourcing decisions going forward.

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