Apple has long used its purchasing scale to negotiate with component suppliers. But its reported attempt to add China’s CXMT as a DRAM supplier shows the limits of that leverage in the current memory market.

Apple reportedly asked CXMT for lower prices. CXMT instead quoted prices similar to—or higher than—those offered by Samsung and SK Hynix. Chinese manufacturers, including Huawei and Xiaomi, have already committed to much of CXMT’s output through higher-priced long-term agreements. With buyers already waiting for its chips, CXMT has little incentive to offer Apple a discount.

That reality extends beyond Apple. Memory is expensive enough that an 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200 module that previously cost about 1,500 INR, or roughly $16, was replaced for 8,000 INR, about $84. Paying more than five times the earlier price for older DDR4 hardware is a clear example of how sharply the market has changed.

CXMT Adds Competition, but Not Cheaper RAM Yet

CXMT’s growth could give device makers another major source of DRAM beyond Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. Those three companies have dominated the DRAM business for years, so an additional supplier could reduce dependence on them.

More suppliers can improve pricing over time. But CXMT is entering a market where available memory already has buyers.

Samsung and SK Hynix are investing heavily in high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, for AI accelerators, where margins are higher than for conventional consumer DRAM. At the same time, Chinese smartphone and computer companies are securing CXMT’s standard memory production before it leaves the factory.

Apple cannot rely on CXMT to pressure other suppliers when memory manufacturers are already struggling to meet demand. The company has reportedly asked the U.S. government to allow it to source DRAM from CXMT and NAND storage from YMTC for products sold outside the country. That approval could help Apple secure memory supply, but it would not necessarily reduce its costs. CXMT’s reported pricing suggests it does not plan to act as Apple’s low-cost alternative.

Rising Memory Costs Are Reaching Apple Buyers

Apple spent months absorbing higher component costs, but some of those increases have begun to reach customers. Several Macs and iPads have increased in price by hundreds of dollars. The iPhone 18 Pro lineup may face the same pressure.

TrendForce reported that conventional DRAM contract prices rose between 93% and 98% in the first quarter of 2026. Industry revenue increased 81% to $97 billion over that period. Prices continued to rise through July, though the pace of those increases began to slow.

Counterpoint Research estimated that an iPhone 18 Pro Max with 12GB of memory and 1TB of storage could cost Apple nearly $300 more to build than its predecessor. Memory and storage accounted for the largest share of that increase.

Supply is not expanding quickly enough to pull prices down. IDC expects available DRAM to grow by only 16% this year, while industry revenue is forecast to rise 177% to $418.6 billion.

Apple has several possible ways to handle higher memory expenses:

  • Absorb the added cost
  • Accept lower margins
  • Reduce memory or storage configurations
  • Pass higher costs on to buyers

Higher Mac and iPad prices indicate that Apple has already chosen the last option for some products. iPhones may not remain insulated from these costs.

Micron’s Explanation for the Memory Shortage

Micron has argued that a small number of major customers used their purchasing power during the prior memory downturn to secure extremely low prices. According to the company, those prices made production expansion harder to justify, leaving manufacturers unprepared when demand returned.

Micron did not publicly name Apple. However, reports have linked its comments to Apple.

That explanation has been criticized as unconvincing. Companies placing large, predictable orders generally expect volume discounts. Apple does not purchase DRAM at retail prices, and Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix were not producing millions of components for a major customer without a commercial reason.

If contracts had truly become unsustainable, suppliers could have renegotiated or sold their production elsewhere. Blaming customers for negotiating favorable prices during a downturn can look convenient when suppliers have regained pricing power.

Micron’s history also adds context to the current debate. A former Micron sales manager pleaded guilty to obstructing the U.S. Justice Department’s DRAM price-fixing investigation after withholding and altering subpoenaed documents. Samsung and Hynix later pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy and paid fines of $300 million and $185 million, respectively.

Those past cases do not establish that anything illegal is occurring today. Still, they offer a reason to view present-day supplier arguments cautiously.

AI Memory Demand Leaves Consumer RAM Competing for Supply

Micron is right about one part of the current shortage: AI companies are buying large quantities of profitable HBM. Memory manufacturers have a strong financial reason to prioritize those customers.

That leaves conventional RAM for phones, laptops, consoles, and PC repairs competing for the remaining supply. And when older hardware fails, buyers may have no practical choice but to pay the going price.

CXMT could eventually reduce the hold that established memory manufacturers have on the market. But competition alone will not bring relief unless production rises enough to meet demand. For now, CXMT has joined an expensive market rather than disrupted it.

Apple may pay more. Other device makers may pass those costs on as well. Customers may delay upgrades or accept higher prices, while anyone replacing failed PC memory could face a bill that feels wildly out of proportion to the hardware being purchased.