Apple Negotiates With Blacklisted Chinese Chipmakers Over Memory Supply
Apple is in active talks to buy memory chips from Pentagon-blacklisted Chinese firms as a global AI-driven memory crunch squeezes supply.
Apple is actively negotiating with two Chinese semiconductor companies that appear on a Pentagon blacklist, a high-stakes move driven by a worldwide memory chip shortage that has already compelled the iPhone maker to raise prices broadly across its product lineup, according to a Bloomberg News report citing people familiar with the matter.
The talks underscore how severely the global memory crunch — accelerated by surging artificial intelligence demand — is straining even the most well-resourced technology companies. Apple rarely resorts to widespread price increases, making the current supply pressure particularly notable and signaling the depth of the component shortfall it faces.
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By engaging suppliers that the U.S. Defense Department has flagged, Apple risks potential regulatory scrutiny and reputational exposure at a moment of heightened U.S.-China technology tensions. The company is nonetheless pushing forward, reflecting the calculated trade-off between supply security and geopolitical risk that tech giants increasingly face in a fractured global semiconductor landscape.
The negotiations highlight a broader industry dilemma: as AI applications drive insatiable demand for high-bandwidth memory, chipmakers outside the blacklisted firms have struggled to keep pace, leaving buyers like Apple with few alternatives and mounting pressure to look beyond traditional, politically safer suppliers.
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