TL;DR
Apple is reportedly lobbying Washington for clearance to buy memory chips from China’s CXMT after raising some device prices because of higher memory costs. The case shows that Apple still has supplier and political options, while Europe has no major domestic DRAM or HBM producer.
Apple is lobbying Washington for clearance to buy memory chips from China’s CXMT, according to a Financial Times report cited by MarketWatch, a move that matters because the same memory shortage is raising consumer hardware prices and exposing Europe’s lack of a major DRAM or HBM supplier.
The request concerns ChangXin Memory Technologies, China’s leading memory maker, which appears on the Pentagon’s 1260H list of companies U.S. officials allege support China’s military. The listing is not the same as a full Entity List export ban, but Apple’s reported request shows the political sensitivity of using a Chinese supplier while Washington is tightening controls on advanced chips.
The move followed Apple price increases on selected Macs and iPads that the company linked to higher memory costs. Investor’s Business Daily reported increases of 17% to 25% across affected Macs and iPads, with HomePod and Apple TV also rising and iPhones left out. Rosenblatt Securities analyst Barton Crockett said the increases may still leave margin risk if memory costs keep rising.
For Europe, the confirmed supply picture is thinner. The European Commission has described the EU as producing less than 10% of global semiconductors by value and being heavily dependent on the United States and Asia. In DRAM and high-bandwidth memory, the major producers are Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron and emerging Chinese suppliers such as CXMT; none is European.
Apple is reaching for Chinese memory. Europe doesn’t even have that option.
The shortage exposes America’s dependence — and Europe’s far more brutally. Apple has a domestic supplier, political weight, and the China option. Europe has no memory of its own, no seat at the table, no leverage on what counts.
- EU makes < 10% of the world’s semiconductors
- Effectively no DRAM, no HBM from Europe
- 3–4 memory makers worldwide — none European
- Pure price-taker: memory ~4× in 3 quarters
- ASML: EUV monopoly — no leading-edge chip without it
- Zeiss: precision optics, unrivalled worldwide
- imec · CEA-Leti · Fraunhofer: world-class research
- Infineon, NXP, STMicro: automotive · power · SiC
The shortage is a sovereignty test — Europe fails on supply but still holds the leverage in its hand. If even Apple can’t buy its way out, Europe’s answer isn’t to buy its way in, but to run two tracks: press the unique chokepoints as real leverage — and cut dependence wherever it can without Brussels: local-first, open weights, quantization, right-sized hardware. Bury the 20% dream, defend what’s yours, need less.
Apple Has Options Europe Lacks
Apple’s reported approach to Washington shows that even a company with huge purchasing power, long supplier relationships and a U.S. home market is running into the memory squeeze. It still has paths to pursue: Micron in the United States, South Korean suppliers, political access in Washington and, if cleared, China’s CXMT.
Europe’s problem is different. It is a price-taker in memory: when DRAM and HBM prices rise, European device makers, cloud buyers, automakers and AI projects pay more or wait longer. Counterpoint’s estimate that memory prices have roughly quadrupled over three quarters points to a cost shock that Europe cannot offset by turning to a domestic memory champion.
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Chips Act Targets Fall Short
The EU Chips Act, adopted in 2023, set a goal of raising Europe’s share of global semiconductor production to 20% by 2030 and mobilizing about 43 billion euros. The Commission’s own projections cited in the source material put the 2030 share closer to 11.7%, while the European Court of Auditors said in December 2025 that the 20% goal was very unlikely.
Europe still has real leverage in chipmaking, led by ASML’s EUV lithography, Zeiss optics, research centers such as imec, CEA-Leti and Fraunhofer, and chipmakers including Infineon, NXP and STMicroelectronics. Those strengths sit outside commodity DRAM and HBM, so they do not give Brussels a direct lever over the memory shortage now hitting consumer devices and AI infrastructure.
“very unlikely”
— European Court of Auditors, December 2025 assessment
Clearance And Capacity Remain Open
It is not yet clear whether the U.S. government will give Apple clearance, whether conditions would attach, or whether Congress would push back. It is also unknown whether CXMT could meet Apple’s volume, reliability and product requirements at scale, especially for higher-end memory.
The European impact is also not fully measurable. The size of Apple’s cost exposure, the duration of the memory shortage, and the share of future HBM output already committed to large AI buyers remain private or reported rather than fully public.
Washington Decision Sets Next Step
The next marker is whether Washington responds to Apple’s reported request and whether Apple names CXMT or another supplier in future purchasing disclosures. Investors will also watch September-quarter margins, any further Mac, iPad or iPhone pricing, and supplier comments from Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix.
In Europe, the practical path now runs through Chips Act revisions, public procurement, advanced packaging, research into new memory architectures and use of Europe’s chokepoints such as ASML and Zeiss. Without a domestic DRAM or HBM maker, Brussels’ near-term task is to reduce exposure where it can and use existing chip strengths for leverage.
Key Questions
What is Apple asking Washington to approve?
Apple is reportedly seeking U.S. clearance to buy memory chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT. The request is tied to a global memory shortage that has pushed up costs for device makers.
Is CXMT banned in the United States?
CXMT is on the Pentagon’s 1260H list of companies U.S. officials allege support China’s military. That is not the same as a full Entity List ban, but it creates political and policy risk for a U.S. company buying from it.
Why does Europe have fewer options than Apple?
Europe has no major DRAM maker and no major HBM producer of its own. Apple can turn to U.S. supplier Micron, lobby Washington, or seek clearance for China; Europe lacks an equivalent memory supplier.
Will this make Apple products more expensive?
Some price increases have already been reported for Macs and iPads, and Apple has linked the move to higher memory costs. Future pricing, including for iPhones, remains uncertain and will depend on supply contracts and margins.
What can Europe do now?
Europe can press strengths such as ASML lithography and Zeiss optics, fund advanced packaging and new memory research, and reduce demand where possible. Those steps do not create a near-term European DRAM supplier, but they can improve leverage.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
