TL;DR
Apple is reportedly lobbying Washington for permission to buy memory chips from China’s CXMT as a global shortage pushes up device costs. The report highlights a sharper problem for Europe: it has no major DRAM or HBM producer of its own, even as memory prices rise.
Apple is seeking U.S. government clearance to buy memory chips from Chinese supplier CXMT, according to a Financial Times report cited by 9to5Mac and Engadget, a move that shows the global memory shortage is pressuring even one of the world’s strongest hardware buyers and exposing Europe’s lack of a domestic DRAM or HBM supplier.
The reported request involves CXMT, a Chinese memory maker listed on the Pentagon’s 1260H roster of Chinese military-linked companies. The timing is sensitive: the report came two days after Apple raised prices on Macs and iPads, citing the memory shortage.
Apple still has options many buyers do not. It can work with U.S.-based Micron, lobby Washington, and, if cleared, reach toward China. Europe’s position is weaker in memory: the EU makes less than 10 percent of the world’s semiconductors by value and has no major producer among the small group of global DRAM suppliers.
According to the source material, Counterpoint estimates that memory prices have roughly quadrupled over three quarters, with some segments rising closer to sixfold year over year. That cost pressure affects consumer devices, AI servers, cloud infrastructure and industrial systems that rely on high-performance memory.
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 Leverage Europe Lacks
The Apple report matters because it shows the shortage is no longer only a supplier problem; it is reaching the largest hardware buyers. If Apple is seeking another path to memory supply, smaller manufacturers and public-sector buyers face even tighter choices.
For Europe, the issue is not only price. In DRAM and especially HBM, the high-bandwidth memory used for AI accelerators, Europe is largely a buyer rather than a maker. That leaves European companies exposed to allocation decisions made in the United States and Asia.
Europe does hold power elsewhere in chips. ASML dominates EUV lithography, Zeiss is central to precision optics, and institutes such as imec, CEA-Leti and Fraunhofer remain strong in research. But those strengths do not give Europe direct control over memory supply during a shortage.
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The Chips Act Target Slips
The EU Chips Act, adopted in 2023, set a goal of raising Europe’s global chip market share to 20 percent by 2030, backed by about €43 billion in planned public and private funding. The source material says the Commission’s own outlook now points closer to 11.7 percent by 2030.
The European Court of Auditors said in December 2025 that the 20 percent goal was “very unlikely”. ASML has estimated that reaching it would cost more than €250 billion, far above the current funding pool.
Several flagship manufacturing plans have also faced setbacks, including Intel’s Magdeburg plant and the STMicroelectronics-GlobalFoundries project in Crolles. Those delays matter because memory capacity cannot be created quickly, even when governments offer subsidies and faster permitting.
“Almost entirely dependent on the United States and Asia.”
— European Commission
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Washington’s Answer Is Unknown
It is not yet clear whether U.S. officials will approve Apple’s reported request, whether Apple has placed or plans to place orders with CXMT, or whether CXMT memory would meet Apple’s technical and compliance requirements.
It is also unclear how long the memory price spike will last. Demand from AI systems, cloud providers and consumer electronics buyers remains high, while new HBM capacity takes time to qualify and scale.
For Europe, the open question is whether policymakers will keep aiming for broad chip self-sufficiency or narrow the strategy around areas where Europe already has leverage, including lithography, optics, packaging and research.
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Brussels Faces A Narrower Choice
The next milestone is the U.S. response to Apple’s reported effort to source from CXMT. Any approval, rejection or restriction would signal how Washington is balancing supply pressure against China-related security policy.
In Europe, the debate is likely to move toward a more targeted chip strategy: defending ASML and Zeiss chokepoints, expanding advanced packaging, backing new memory architectures and reducing demand where possible through local-first AI, open models, quantization and right-sized hardware.
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Key Questions
What did Apple reportedly ask Washington to approve?
Apple is reportedly seeking U.S. clearance to buy memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese supplier named on the Pentagon’s 1260H list.
Why is CXMT politically sensitive?
CXMT is a Chinese memory maker, and the source material identifies it as being on the Pentagon’s blacklist-style 1260H list. That makes any U.S. approval tied to security and trade policy, not only supply.
Does Europe make its own DRAM or HBM?
Europe has no major DRAM producer and no leading HBM supplier. The main global memory makers are concentrated in South Korea, the United States and China.
What does Europe still control in chips?
Europe remains strong in EUV lithography through ASML, precision optics through Zeiss, and semiconductor research through imec, CEA-Leti and Fraunhofer. Those positions give Europe leverage, but not direct memory supply.
What happens next for buyers?
Buyers will watch U.S. policy on CXMT, memory contract pricing and new HBM capacity. Until supply improves, device makers, AI firms and European industry remain exposed to higher memory costs.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
