Apple and Micron Clash Over CXMT, Forcing the White House to Pick a Side
Alina Collins
Apple is lobbying the Trump administration to let it buy memory chips from China's CXMT; Micron is lobbying just as hard to stop it — forcing the White House to choose between lower consumer prices and protecting America's domestic chip industry.
What does Apple want, and why now?
Apple plans to use chips from CXMT and YMTC in devices sold outside the United States.
The rationale is straightforward: a global memory-chip shortage has driven up prices, and Apple has already raised prices on several products. Chinese chips would cut costs.
Apple executives recently pitched the plan in person to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Why is Micron fighting so hard against it?
Micron argues that letting Apple buy from Chinese suppliers would crush domestic U.S. memory makers — a repeat of the hollowing-out that followed manufacturing outsourcing to China.
Micron also points out that memory chips are not the sole driver of Apple's price hikes, implying Apple is overstating the case.
This means → the dispute is nominally about pricing, but at its core it is about who gets to define the floor for America's chip supply chain.
What are the two companies accusing each other of?
Apple fired back that Micron is profiteering, citing Micron's 81% profit margin in fiscal Q2 2026.
Micron countered that Apple and other large buyers spent years squeezing suppliers on price, leaving them unable to expand capacity — which is exactly what caused today's shortage.
In plain terms = Apple says "you're making too much money"; Micron says "the shortage is your fault for driving prices down." Each side blames the other.
Why is this choice so hard for the White House?
Both companies have close ties to the Trump administration: Apple CEO Tim Cook and Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra have both appeared in the Oval Office and traveled to China with the president.
On the geopolitical side, U.S. firms have broadly avoided Chinese memory suppliers, and some Chinese chipmakers are already on the Entity List.
This means → the White House is not just picking between two companies — it is making a public statement about whether it prioritizes cheaper consumer goods or supply-chain security.
If Apple wins, how badly does Micron get hurt?
The direct hit may be limited. CXMT currently produces DRAM — standard memory — and has not yet reached volume production of HBM (high-bandwidth memory, the premium chips used in AI servers).
HBM is Micron's highest-margin, most AI-driven business line, and Apple's shift to CXMT would not touch that revenue stream.
For CXMT, however, landing Apple as a customer would provide critical resources to build out HBM capacity — and that longer-term competitive shift is what Micron really fears.
What is Micron doing on its own side?
Micron broke ground this month on a new fab in New York State, part of a plan to invest more than $250 billion in the U.S. by 2035.
The company has pledged to bring 40% of its DRAM capacity back to American soil.
This reflects Micron's dual strategy: lobby to block Apple, but also spend real money on domestic manufacturing to earn policy support — how the White House ultimately rules will test where chip-industry policy ranks in the Trump administration's priorities.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.