Apple’s plan to source memory chips from China could be running into serious trouble. Micron, the only major memory chip maker in the United States, is lobbying the White House to shut it down.
The clash pits Apple’s push for cheaper memory against fears of hollowing out America’s chip industry. And now, it’s up to the Trump administration to pick a side.
Apple’s Chinese memory chip plan just got bigger
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence has fueled an enormous appetite for DRAM and NAND flash memory in data centers, leading to a global shortage. Building new semiconductor fabrication plants takes years and costs tens of billions of dollars, so manufacturers cannot quickly increase production when demand spikes. The resulting supply crunch has pushed memory prices sharply higher, putting pressure on Apple and every other computer maker.
In hopes of reducing costs, Apple wants to buy memory chips from two Chinese suppliers — CXMT and YMTC. Now, a report by the Wall Street Journal says Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives have pitched the plan to top officials. That list includes President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The pitch also grew more ambitious. Apple had originally wanted the chips for devices sold in China, but now it wants to use them in products sold worldwide, including the U.S.
The problem is that both CXMT and YMTC are labeled as Chinese military companies by the Pentagon. YMTC also sits on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, which is a stricter trade blacklist. While it does not make buying their chips illegal, it does make the deal more politically charged.
Micron says the plan could gut US manufacturing
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra has warned Lutnick and other officials about the risk. He says allowing CXMT and other Chinese firms to sell their memory chips to U.S. firms could be disastrous.
Mehrotra compared the risk to what happened with American steel and manufacturing, arguing that China used government subsidies to wipe out U.S. competitors in those industries, and that it could happen again with DRAM and NAND flash memory.
Micron’s argument does not stop at products sold in China, saying the danger applies everywhere Apple sells its products.
Micron’s pitch: more factories, not more imports
Micron isn’t just saying no to Chinese memory chips. It’s also offering an alternative.
The chip maker says it can ease the memory shortage by building U.S. factories faster and investing more at home. But this cannot happen overnight.
Micron has already committed more than $250 billion toward American chip manufacturing through 2035, which includes building new fabs in Idaho, New York and Virginia. But those plants won’t meaningfully boost supply for years.
Apple is pushing back
Apple isn’t backing down either. The tech giant accused Micron of price gouging, saying its gross profit margins now top 80%. Cupertino also argues that the chip maker isn’t investing fast enough and that most of the increased capacity would go to AI data centers, not phones or laptops.
Micron has its own counterpoint. It says Apple’s aggressive price negotiations in the past discouraged it from investing, which led to today’s memory shortage.
What happens next
The White House is yet to tip its hand. Spokesman Kush Desai has said the administration wants both investment and price relief while safeguarding national security.
This leaves President Trump in a precarious situation, as he’s caught between cutting prices for consumers and boosting domestic chip production.
For Apple, the stakes are pretty high. Cheaper Chinese memory chips could help it ease the pressure squeezing your next iPhone or MacBook. But if Micron wins the fight, that relief won’t be coming anytime soon.
