TL;DR
Apple is reportedly lobbying Washington for permission to buy memory chips from China’s CXMT after raising Mac and iPad prices amid a global memory shortage. The episode highlights a sharper problem for Europe: it has no major DRAM or HBM producer of its own and little direct leverage over memory supply.
Apple is reportedly lobbying Washington for permission to buy memory chips from China’s CXMT, according to reports cited by Thorsten Meyer AI, just days after the company raised Mac and iPad prices and blamed the move on a global memory shortage. The request matters beyond Apple because it shows that even a company with major buying power is looking for extra supply, while Europe has no comparable domestic memory supplier to turn to.
The reported request concerns ChangXin Memory Technologies, known as CXMT, a Chinese memory manufacturer that appears on the U.S. Defense Department’s 1260H list of companies identified as linked to China’s military sector. Any Apple purchase from CXMT would need to fit within U.S. restrictions and political scrutiny, and it is not yet clear whether Washington will grant approval.
The timing is central to the story. According to the source material, Apple’s lobbying effort emerged two days after price increases on Macs and iPads that were attributed to the memory shortage. That does not prove Apple lacks supply, but it does indicate that memory costs are now visible enough to affect consumer hardware pricing at one of the world’s largest electronics companies.
The same shortage is hitting Europe from a weaker position. The European Commission has said the EU remains almost entirely dependent on the United States and Asia for advanced semiconductors. In memory, the gap is sharper: the main global DRAM makers are Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, with limited additional supply elsewhere. None is European.
Apple is reaching for Chinese memory. Europe doesn’t even have that option.
The shortage exposes America’s dependence — and Europe’s far more brutally. Apple has a domestic supplier, political weight, and the China option. Europe has no memory of its own, no seat at the table, no leverage on what counts.
- EU makes < 10% of the world’s semiconductors
- Effectively no DRAM, no HBM from Europe
- 3–4 memory makers worldwide — none European
- Pure price-taker: memory ~4× in 3 quarters
- ASML: EUV monopoly — no leading-edge chip without it
- Zeiss: precision optics, unrivalled worldwide
- imec · CEA-Leti · Fraunhofer: world-class research
- Infineon, NXP, STMicro: automotive · power · SiC
The shortage is a sovereignty test — Europe fails on supply but still holds the leverage in its hand. If even Apple can’t buy its way out, Europe’s answer isn’t to buy its way in, but to run two tracks: press the unique chokepoints as real leverage — and cut dependence wherever it can without Brussels: local-first, open weights, quantization, right-sized hardware. Bury the 20% dream, defend what’s yours, need less.
Europe Lacks Apple’s Options
Apple has several channels that Europe does not. It can buy from Micron, a U.S. supplier; it can seek political clearance in Washington; and, if approved, it may be able to reach into Chinese supply. Europe has major semiconductor strengths, but not in the memory category now under strain.
That matters because DRAM and high-bandwidth memory are core inputs for computers, servers and AI accelerators. If memory prices rise or allocations tighten, European device makers, cloud providers, automakers and research labs face higher costs and less certainty. Counterpoint figures cited in the source material put some memory prices at roughly four times higher over three quarters, with steeper year-over-year increases in some segments.
The policy issue is not only price. Europe’s lack of a major DRAM or HBM producer means it has little direct influence over supply decisions in a shortage. Brussels can fund projects, coordinate demand and regulate procurement, but it cannot quickly create leading-edge memory capacity that does not physically exist in Europe.
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Chips Act Goal Slips
The EU Chips Act, adopted in 2023, set a goal of raising Europe’s share of global semiconductor production to 20 percent by 2030. The source material says European Commission projections now put the likely share closer to 11.7 percent, while the European Court of Auditors in December 2025 described the 20 percent target as very unlikely.
Europe still has important semiconductor assets. ASML dominates advanced EUV lithography equipment, Zeiss supplies precision optics, and research centers including imec, CEA-Leti and Fraunhofer remain influential. European chipmakers such as Infineon, NXP and STMicroelectronics are strong in automotive, power and industrial semiconductors.
Those strengths do not solve the current memory shortage. The source material points to stalled or uncertain projects, including Intel’s Magdeburg plant and the STMicroelectronics-GlobalFoundries project in Crolles, as evidence that building large-scale European chip capacity is slower and more expensive than the 2023 targets implied.
HBM memory modules
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Approval And Supply Remain Open
It is not yet clear whether U.S. officials will allow Apple to buy memory from CXMT, or whether any approval would carry limits on volume, product type or end use. It is also unclear how much supply Apple is seeking and whether the reported request reflects a near-term shortage, pricing pressure or planning for future allocation risk.
The scale of Europe’s exposure is also still developing. The source material cites sharp memory price increases and limited global producers, but specific impacts will vary by sector. Consumer hardware makers, cloud operators and AI infrastructure buyers may face different timing, contract terms and inventory buffers.
European memory chip suppliers
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Washington’s Decision Comes First
The next marker is whether Washington grants Apple clearance to buy from CXMT. A denial would keep Apple tied more tightly to existing non-Chinese suppliers during the shortage. Approval would show that U.S. policymakers are willing, at least in some cases, to balance supply pressure against restrictions on Chinese technology firms.
For Europe, the next question is policy direction. The memory shortage adds pressure on Brussels to decide whether to pursue more domestic capacity, deepen alliances with existing suppliers, or focus on areas where Europe already has leverage, including ASML, Zeiss, advanced packaging, research and demand reduction through more efficient hardware and software choices.
Chinese CXMT memory chips
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Key Questions
What did Apple reportedly ask Washington to approve?
Apple is reportedly seeking permission to buy memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese manufacturer on the Pentagon’s 1260H list. The request has not been reported as approved.
Why does this matter for Europe?
Europe has no major DRAM or HBM producer of its own. If memory supply tightens, European buyers have less direct leverage than Apple or U.S. firms with domestic supplier access.
Does Europe make any important chips?
Yes. Europe is strong in lithography, optics, automotive chips, power semiconductors and research. The gap highlighted here is specifically in commodity DRAM and high-bandwidth memory.
Is the EU’s 20 percent chip target still realistic?
The source material cites European Commission projections of about 11.7 percent by 2030, and says the European Court of Auditors called the 20 percent target very unlikely.
Is this financial advice?
No. The figures cited are historical or source-attributed estimates about semiconductor supply and pricing. They are not investment, tax or legal advice.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
