US Senators Urge Apple to Halt Chinese Memory Chip Plans

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has urged Apple to abandon plans to source memory chips from Chinese semiconductor firms ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC), citing national security risks and potential harm to the domestic semiconductor industry. In a letter sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the lawmakers asked the company to commit by August 21 to not using chips from the two suppliers in its products.

The senators, led by Republican Jim Banks of Indiana and Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York, highlighted that both Chinese companies are included on the Pentagon’s updated list of entities believed to support China’s military. They argued that integrating these components, even if initially intended only for devices sold within China, would make Apple dependent on a critical supplier designated as an adversary and could expose its global supply chain to long-term strategic risks. The lawmakers characterized the potential move as shortsighted.

Apple has been in negotiations to acquire chips from CXMT and YMTC amid a global supply squeeze that has driven memory prices higher, fueled in part by unprecedented demand from makers of artificial...