TL;DR
The Financial Times reported on June 27 that Apple is lobbying Washington for clearance to buy memory chips from China’s CXMT, a Pentagon-listed company, after Apple raised prices on Macs and iPads during a memory shortage. The report points to a sharper European problem: the EU has chip equipment power but no major DRAM or HBM producer, leaving it exposed to prices and allocations set elsewhere.
Apple is lobbying Washington for clearance to buy memory chips from China’s CXMT, according to the Financial Times, a move that shows how the global memory shortage is pressuring even the world’s strongest hardware buyers and exposes Europe’s weaker position: the EU has no major DRAM or HBM maker of its own.
The Financial Times reported on June 27 that Apple has sought the Trump administration’s blessing to buy memory from CXMT, which is on the Pentagon’s 1260H list of Chinese companies alleged to have military ties. The list does not automatically ban US companies from buying from CXMT, but it adds political and security risk. The FT said Apple and the White House did not comment.
The report came two days after Apple raised prices on several Mac and iPad products, citing higher memory and storage costs. Counterpoint Research estimates cited in the source material put memory prices at roughly four times their level three quarters earlier, with some segments rising even faster year over year.
For Europe, the comparison is stark. The EU makes less than 10 percent of global semiconductors by value and is, in the European Commission’s wording, almost entirely dependent on the US and Asia for advanced chips. In DRAM and high-bandwidth memory, the meaningful suppliers are Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron and a small Chinese fringe; there is no European member of that group.
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’s Memory Gap Gets Costly
DRAM is basic working memory for phones, PCs, cars and servers. HBM, the stacked memory used with AI accelerators, has become one of the tightest parts of the AI supply chain. When allocations are booked by large US cloud and AI buyers, European device makers, cloud providers and industrial groups have little ability to set terms.
That matters because the shortage is now a policy risk, not just a procurement problem. If Washington tightens controls on Chinese memory, or if Beijing uses export pressure, Brussels has few direct tools over memory supply. Emergency powers can reorder production in a crisis, but they cannot create scarce DRAM or HBM capacity inside Europe on demand.
Europe does hold real semiconductor leverage through ASML and Zeiss, advanced research at imec, CEA-Leti and Fraunhofer, and power and automotive chipmakers such as Infineon, NXP and STMicroelectronics. But those strengths do not give Europe its own supply of the memory chips now driving costs across consumer electronics and AI infrastructure.
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The 20 Percent Target 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 and mobilizing about EUR43 billion. In Special Report 12/2025, published on April 28, 2025, the European Court of Auditors said that goal was very unlikely to be met.
The auditors projected Europe would reach only about 11.7 percent by 2030. ASML has estimated that reaching the 20 percent goal would require more than EUR250 billion, far above the resources now committed. Large projects in Magdeburg and Crolles have also faced delays or setbacks, underlining the gap between industrial plans and available capacity.
The memory shortage adds pressure to that debate because it targets a part of the supply chain where Europe is weakest. The EU has influence in equipment, optics and research, but in commodity DRAM and HBM it remains a price-taker.
“very unlikely”
— European Court of Auditors, Special Report 12/2025
HBM memory modules for gaming PC
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Washington’s CXMT Call Is Pending
It is not yet clear whether the US administration will give Apple the clearance it wants, whether there is any confirmed Apple-CXMT supply deal, which product lines would use CXMT memory, or what volumes Apple would seek.
Some supply claims remain hard to verify. Reports that major AI buyers have reserved very large shares of future memory output, including claims about OpenAI and global DRAM wafer production through 2029, have not been confirmed in full public disclosures. The duration of current price pressure also remains uncertain.
European DRAM memory chips
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US And EU Choices Ahead
The next marker is the US clearance decision on Apple’s reported request. Investors and suppliers will also watch for more Apple pricing moves, memory guidance from Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, and Brussels’ work on a possible Chips Act 2.0.
For Europe, the near-term path is likely to focus on advanced packaging, new memory architectures, joint purchasing or demand aggregation, and lower-memory AI systems. The central test is whether Europe can use its existing semiconductor strengths while reducing exposure to a memory market it does not control.
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Key Questions
Did Apple confirm it will use CXMT chips?
No. The Financial Times reported that Apple is lobbying for US clearance, but there is no confirmed Apple-CXMT supply contract. The FT said Apple did not comment.
Why is CXMT politically sensitive?
CXMT is on the Pentagon’s 1260H list of Chinese companies alleged to have military ties. That list is not the same as a full transaction ban, but it creates security and reputational risk for US buyers.
Does Europe make memory chips?
Europe has strong chip firms and equipment suppliers, but it has no major DRAM maker and no leading HBM supplier. The key memory producers are Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron and a smaller Chinese group led by CXMT.
Why are memory prices rising?
The shortage is tied to heavy AI data center demand for DRAM, HBM and storage. Supply is concentrated, and adding advanced memory capacity takes time, so buyers such as Apple face higher costs.
What can Europe do now?
Europe can press its strengths in chipmaking equipment, back advanced packaging and research, coordinate public demand, and reduce memory needs through right-sized AI hardware and more efficient models.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
