Apple is lobbying the government, hoping to obtain approval to purchase memory chips from CXMT

Odaily Planet Daily News Apple is lobbying the Trump administration, hoping to obtain approval to purchase memory chips from Chinese chip company CXMT. Due to multiple factors causing memory prices to rise, Apple unusually raised the prices of MacBook and iPad this Thursday, causing its market value to evaporate by $263 billion. Apple hopes to alleviate supplier funding pressure by adding CXMT to its memory supplier list.

CXMT and YMTC have been included in the Chinese military company blacklist (i.e., the 1260H list) by the US Department of Defense. The US Department of Commerce planned to add CXMT to the entity list last year, but the White House postponed the plan due to ongoing trade negotiations with China at the time. Currently, aside from Chinese companies, the global memory chip industry is primarily dominated by three companies: US-based Micron, South Korea's Samsung, and SK Hynix. (FT)