US may give go-ahead for Apple to use CXMT, YMTC memory
Micron stock tumbled today on a WCCTech report claiming the Trump administration has given Apple the go-ahead to break the deadlock of the big three memory vendors by purchasing memory from Chinese firms ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC).
The report takes pains to stress that the memory Apple acquires from these vendors will only be used in products sold in China.
That should be good news for most Apple customers, as it means the memory the company doesn’t have to use to satisfy demand in its second-biggest market can be used for devices sold outside it.
That doesn’t mean Apple will be able to produce its devices more affordably than anticipated.
Recent reports have said the Chinese memory vendors didn’t budge much on price, but use of the RAM will at least make it easier for Apple to satisfy demand.
There is some conditionality surrounding the arrangement. Not only does the report lean heavily on a single-sourced social media link, but WCCTech also tells us the Trump administration is using this permission as a kind of positive inducement to China.
That means the arrangement won’t be confirmed until after Chinese President Xi’s visit to the US in September.
The political optics of the deal aside, it is understood that Apple has been urgently lobbying to get this go ahead, despite which there does appear to be some conditionality and uncertainty to all this, so we must still wait and see if the arrangement is concluded.
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