AAPL Stock Rises Overnight: After Price Hikes, Apple Reportedly Seeks US Approval To Buy Chinese Memory Chips

Apple is reportedly lobbying the Donald Trump administration for clearance to buy memory chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies, a Chinese company that the Pentagon has placed on a blacklist.

• The pressure Apple is facing has escalated from soaring memory costs to a persistently widening supply-demand gap, supply chain analyst Migh-Chi Kuo said.
• Apple implemented price hikes on MacBooks, iPads, HomePods, and Apple TV devices globally last week, citing rising costs of memory components.
• Stocktwits sentiment for AAPL was ‘bullish.’ 

Apple is making a push to secure memory components and is reportedly lobbying the U.S. government to allow it to buy chips from the Chinese memory firm ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and to avoid future export restrictions on the company, according to a key supply chain analyst and a media report.

Last week, The Financial Times reported, citing sources, that Apple has sought clearance to buy memory chips from CXMT, which the Pentagon has placed on a blacklist. 

Apple shares were 0.4% in overnight trading ahead of Monday.

Apple Lobbies For Chinese Memory Purchase

Apple wants to "prevent CXMT from being added to the entity list in the future," Taiwanese analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a post on X on Sunday, which had more details about the issue.

CXMT's prospectus notes that the company's capacity is far below domestic demand; combined with ongoing global memory supply-demand imbalances, even if Apple's lobbying succeeds and it procures DRAM from CXMT, it won't significantly reduce costs or improve the supply gap, Kuo said.

“The pressure Apple is facing has escalated from soaring memory costs to a persistently widening supply-demand gap,” according to an English translation of Kuo’s X post. “With the imbalance set to widen further, Apple still needs to secure new supply sources.” 

CXMT is China’s largest DRAM manufacturer, making memory chips used in smartphones, laptops, servers and other electronic devices. While its customer list has not been fully disclosed, the company primarily supplies Chinese device makers and is a key part of China’s push to reduce reliance on global memory giants such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology.

According to Kuo, memory capacity is increasingly being diverted to AI data centers, tightening supplies for consumer electronics and potentially disrupting Apple’s future iPhone production, making access to additional DRAM suppliers like CXMT strategically important to reduce supply chain risks.

Apple’s Price Hikes

Kuo also speculated that Apple might have had a hand in leaking the news. “Disclosing it through the media can leave the market with the impression that ‘Apple did everything it could but remains constrained by U.S. policy,’ which might soften backlash against price hikes and extended delivery timelines.”

The company implemented price hikes on MacBooks, iPads, HomePods, and Apple TV devices globally last Thursday, and hinted that there may be more price adjustments. Shares of Apple fell 6.1% that day, their biggest single-day drop since April 2025.

Apple told the media that the rapid buildout of AI data centers had driven an unprecedented surge in demand for memory and storage, resulting in sharp increases in component prices. The company said it had absorbed those higher costs until now but has reached a point where it must raise prices on some products, including iPads and Macs.

Apple stock declined nearly 5% last week, although it remains 5% higher for 2026. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for the stock was ‘bearish’ early Monday, unchanged from the previous week.

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