Apple's offer to get Chinese DRAM on the cheap denied by CXMT

Apple is reportedly short on DRAM just weeks away from its iPhone 18 unveiling, and scrambling to find more stock. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Apple reportedly turned to Chinese RAM manufacturer CXMT for the additional stock.

First, Apple had to ask the Federal Government for permission to buy DRAM from CXMT, as it's a US-blacklisted company. CXMT sells memory to Xiaomi, along with other Chinese companies, but US companies need an explicit permission to do business with it. Second, Apple has supposedly asked CXMT for a lower price for the DRAM, which ended up being the dealbreaker.

Per reports, CXMT is happy to do business with Apple, but has quoted the Cupertino giant the same prices it pays to its main DRAM suppliers - Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung.

It's a reasonable strategy by CXMT. In this case, it holds the negotiating power - Apple needs DRAM for its future iPhone 18 devices (with its first-ever folding phone, the rumored iPhone Ultra among them), while CXMT already has years-long contracts with other big names like Xiaomi and Huawei for DRAM supply.

So, Apple needs to first be allowed by the US government to buy from CXMT, and then to pay more than it wants to.

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