Apple lobbies the U.S. government to approve the use of Chinese memory chips

Apple recently cited rising memory semiconductor prices as the reason for its recent product price increases, and it is reportedly lobbying the U.S. government while seeking approval to use Chinese memory chips that have been blacklisted. The Financial Times reported on the 26th (local time) that Apple is persuading officials at the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Trump administration to allow it to purchase memory chips from Chinese company ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT). CXMT is a company that the U.S. Department of Defense has placed on its military companies list over possible ties to the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Apple is believed to have taken this step in order to diversify its supply chain and reduce the burden of memory costs. However, with some in the U.S. Congress raising objections that cooperation with Chinese military companies is inappropriate, it remains unclear whether approval will actually be granted.