{"id":5268,"date":"2026-07-26T07:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T07:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=5268"},"modified":"2026-07-26T07:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T07:05:20","slug":"apple-wants-chinese-memory-chips-micron-wants-them-blocked-how-us-government-is-caught-between-two-american-giants-and-why-a-250-million-cheque-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=5268","title":{"rendered":"Apple wants Chinese memory chips, Micron wants them blocked: How US government is caught between two American giants, and why a $250 million cheque matters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-132637221,imgsize-41076,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/apple.jpg\" alt=\"Apple wants Chinese memory chips, Micron wants them blocked: How US government is caught between two American giants, and why a $250 million cheque matters\" title=\"US government is caught in fight between Apple and Micron\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"US government is caught in fight between Apple and Micron\">US government is caught in fight between Apple and Micron<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/apple\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple<\/a> has spent weeks trying to convince the White House to let it buy memory chips from China. Micron has spent the same weeks trying to make sure that never happens. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the lobbying war has now landed on President Donald Trump&#8217;s desk, and it sets two of America&#8217;s biggest companies against each other with no tidy way out.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"3\"\/>Per the WSJ, Tim Cook and senior Apple executives have pitched Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on a plan to use chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) in Apple devices sold outside the United States. Micron, the only sizeable American memory maker left, has been working the same officials in the opposite direction. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra has warned that letting Chinese memory firms into US supply chains \u2014 regardless of where the finished product ships \u2014 could gut the domestic industry the way cheap imports gutted American steel.<\/p>\n<div class=\"Qkqxz\">\n<h2>CJP Jantar Mantar Protest Updates<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Why Apple is chasing Chinese DRAM: memory prices have quadrupled and iPhone margins are feeling it<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/>The backdrop is the memory shortage that has already forced Apple to raise prices across MacBooks, iPads and other lines. Research firm TechInsights pegs the price rise at roughly 4x over the past year, with more to come, because AI data centre buyers are hoovering up supply at rates Apple can&#8217;t match. That has flipped a two-decade dynamic in which Apple squeezed its suppliers.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/>Apple&#8217;s argument to Washington is that Chinese chips ease the crunch and keep US consumer prices down. It also claims Micron is gouging, pointing to gross margins now above 80%, and says the capacity Micron is adding will go mostly to AI customers anyway. Micron counters that it can spend its way out faster at home.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Micron&#8217;s $250 million Trump savings account pledge and the bad blood that goes back to SanDisk<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>Both sides have been busy building goodwill. Micron says it will invest $250 billion in US manufacturing, and recently pledged $250 million to match federal funding for Trump savings accounts covering newborns of employees and children in states where it operates. <!-- -->Both companies also chipped in for the new White House ballroom. Cook, for his part, handed Trump a gold-based plaque last year during his tariff exemption campaign.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>The personal history isn&#8217;t helping. The WSJ reports Mehrotra&#8217;s dislike of Apple dates to his SanDisk days, when he avoided meeting the company altogether.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>There&#8217;s also precedent. Apple did the engineering work with YMTC back in 2022, only for the deal to collapse after political blowback \u2014 then-senator Marco Rubio said Apple was playing with fire. YMTC remains on the entity list, and the Pentagon has designated both firms Chinese military companies.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"26\"\/>A White House spokesman said the administration would pursue economic relief while &#8220;safeguarding our national security.&#8221; Which is precisely the circle Trump now has to square.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/technology\/tech-news\/apple-wants-chinese-memory-chips-micron-wants-them-blocked-how-us-government-is-caught-between-two-american-giants-and-why-a-250-million-cheque-matters\/articleshow\/132637229.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US government is caught in fight between Apple and Micron Apple has spent weeks trying to convince the White House to let it buy memory chips from China. Micron has spent the same weeks trying to make sure that never happens. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the lobbying war has now landed on President [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"US government is caught in fight between Apple and Micron Apple has spent weeks trying to convince the White House to let it buy memory chips from China. Micron has spent the same weeks trying to make sure that never happens. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the lobbying war has now landed on President [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/apple.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}