When the world’s most valuable company starts knocking on doors the US government explicitly told it not to, you know the supply situation is serious. Apple is actively negotiating to source low-end memory chips from two Chinese manufacturers that sit on the Pentagon’s blacklist, a move that reveals just how badly the global memory shortage is squeezing even the most powerful players in tech.

The two suppliers in question are ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC). Apple CEO Tim Cook has personally lobbied the Trump administration for permission to purchase from both firms.

The shortage behind the strategy

The global memory market, specifically DRAM and related low-end memory chips, is in the grip of a supply-demand imbalance that analysts expect to persist until at least 2027. The culprit is familiar: surging demand for AI technologies is consuming memory capacity at a rate manufacturers simply cannot match.

Memory prices have surged dramatically, with reports indicating increases up to 98% in some segments. Apple has already started adjusting prices on iPads and MacBooks in response.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has affirmed that this push toward Chinese-made chips is a strategic necessity, not a cost play.

Testing is already underway

Apple reportedly began testing CXMT’s DRAM chips for devices sold in China as of July 8, 2026. The chips in question are low-end memory, not cutting-edge high-bandwidth memory (HBM). The focus on devices sold within China provides Apple with a potential regulatory argument: these chips go into products for the Chinese domestic market, not for export back to the US.

CXMT raised its IPO fundraising target to $8.6 billion in mid-July 2026, a significant bump that suggests growing confidence in its market position.

The geopolitical tightrope

Both CXMT and YMTC sit on the US Department of Defense’s list of Chinese military companies, which is designed to restrict American business engagement with firms deemed connected to China’s military-industrial complex. For Apple to source from either company, it needs explicit permission from Washington.

What this means for investors

If memory prices have already jumped by as much as 98% in certain segments, every hardware manufacturer on the planet is feeling similar pain. The CXMT IPO target of $8.6 billion signals where smart money sees opportunity in memory manufacturing.

If Apple gets the green light, it validates a pragmatic approach to US-China tech tensions where commercial necessity overrides geopolitical posturing. If it doesn’t, expect the memory shortage to get worse before it gets better, with ripple effects across every industry that depends on silicon.