Apple seeks approval to buy chips from blacklisted Chinese company: FT

[BENGALURU] Apple is lobbying the Trump administration for clearance to buy memory chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies, a Chinese company the Pentagon has put on a blacklist, the Financial Times reported on Friday (Jun 26).

The iPhone maker has lobbied the White House for approval aimed at easing financial pressure on the company from rising memory chip prices, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

The White House, Apple and CXMT did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters outside business hours.

The lobbying push underscores the bind facing major US technology companies as soaring memory chip costs collide with Washington’s national security restrictions on Chinese chipmakers.

Apple approached the Commerce Department more than a month ago and also engaged other administration officials and allies in Washington, one person told the FT.

CXMT, China’s top memory chipmaker, was designated as a Chinese military company by the Defense Department under the Biden administration. The company, among others, was approved by an interagency committee last year for addition to the Commerce Department’s Entity List.

SEE ALSO

Apple-Intel chip deal makes strategic sense but production is years away

UK tribunal gives go ahead for £3 billion lawsuit against Apple over iCloud services

Trump says Apple to partner with Intel on US chip design, production

Apple to raise prices due to memory chip shortage: CEO Cook

More

Asean Intelligence

Get insights into businesses across South-east Asia

Get the free report

US companies cannot ship goods, software and technology to companies on the list without a licence, which is likely to be denied.

Apple raised iPad and MacBook prices on Thursday, saying it could no longer shield customers from soaring memory and storage chip costs driven by the AI industry’s data centre buildout. REUTERS