Apple went to CXMT to negotiate prices and got shut down with a single sentence.

Apple recently hit a wall.

According to Korean media outlet Digital Daily on August 5, Apple proactively approached CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies) to negotiate procurement prices for LPDDR5X mobile memory, hoping to secure a lower quote than what Samsung and SK Hynix offer. But CXMT's stance was firm: "My price isn't lower than Samsung's—it might even be higher."

Five years ago, this would have been unthinkable. Apple sells 200 million iPhones a year—

💡 What You Will Learn

Apple went to CXMT to negotiate prices and got shut down with a single sentence. Apple recently hit a wall. According to Korean media outlet *Digital Daily* on August 5, Apple proactively approached

📜 Table of Contents

• Apple Is Cornered
• Where Does CXMT's Confidence Come From
• The Logic of Domestic Substitution Has Changed
• What This Means for You and Me

Apple Tried to Bargain with CXMT and Got Shut Down

Apple recently hit a wall.

According to Korean media outlet Digital Daily on August 5, Apple proactively approached CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies) to negotiate procurement pricing for LPDDR5X mobile memory, hoping to secure a lower quote than what Samsung and SK Hynix offer. CXMT's response was firm: its pricing wouldn't be lower than Samsung's—possibly even higher.

Five years ago, this would have been unthinkable. Apple sells over 200 million iPhones a year—which supplier wouldn't be scrambling to get into the Apple supply chain? To land Apple's orders, cutting prices, building dedicated production lines, and accommodating all kinds of demanding requirements were standard practice.

But this time, CXMT wouldn't even budge on price.

Apple Is Cornered

Apple's decision to approach CXMT wasn't a choice—it was a necessity.

In June, Apple officially raised prices on iPads and Macs. In its statement, Apple delivered a heavy line: "The rapid expansion of AI data centers has caused a surge in memory demand. We have never seen component prices rise at this magnitude and speed." Apple had been absorbing costs internally, but by June, it simply couldn't anymore.

The root of the problem lies with Samsung and SK Hynix. Both companies are shifting massive production capacity toward HBM (High Bandwidth Memory)—the kind used in AI servers. HBM's profit margins far exceed those of conventional DRAM. AI chipmakers like NVIDIA are lining up to grab supply, paying promptly and committing to long-term contracts. By comparison, Apple's orders, while massive in volume, come with aggressive price pressure and demanding requirements—making them increasingly less attractive to Samsung and SK Hynix.

Apple used to have a go-to card: "If you don't cut prices, I'll go to Chinese suppliers." But that card no longer works—CXMT simply isn't short on orders.

Where Does CXMT's Confidence Come From

CXMT's boldness in turning down Apple stems from real, tangible capacity—and it's completely booked.

Phone makers like Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo, along with internet giants like Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance, have already locked up CXMT's mainstream capacity through long-term agreements. In July, Reuters reported that ByteDance had just signed a five-year deal with CXMT worth over $7 billion (approximately ¥47.5 billion RMB).

CXMT currently operates three 12-inch DRAM wafer fabs in Hefei and Beijing, with a combined monthly capacity of roughly 280,000 to 300,000 wafers. Utilization rates have consistently stayed above 95%. According to supply chain sources, CXMT's order book is already filled through the end of 2027. Right now, the tables have turned—CXMT gets to pick its customers.

Counterpoint Research's latest global DRAM market data for Q2 2026 is also telling:

CXMT's revenue surged 716% year-over-year, with global share climbing to 7%, firmly holding fourth place. Counterpoint VP Neil Shah's assessment: it's only a matter of time before CXMT breaks into the "Big Three."

The Logic of Domestic Substitution Has Changed

In the past, the default logic behind domestic substitution was simple: undercut foreign competitors by 20% and win market share through cost advantage. That logic no longer holds in the memory industry.

CXMT's DDR5 yield has surpassed 90%, its 17nm process mass-production yield is stably above 90%, LPDDR5X has been extensively validated in flagship phones from Huawei and Xiaomi, and next-gen LPDDR6 is nearing the end of R&D validation. With performance catching up and domestic customers locking up capacity, CXMT has zero reason to offer Apple a discount.

What makes things worse for Apple is that the US side is also dragging its feet. Apple has been lobbying the US government to approve memory procurement from CXMT, but hardliners in Congress are pushing for expanded sanctions against the company. Apple wanted to use CXMT as leverage to drive down prices—but CXMT won't play ball, and the US government hasn't budged either. Apple is squeezed from both ends.

What This Means for You and Me

This round of memory price hikes won't end anytime soon.

Samsung and SK Hynix are shifting capacity to HBM, shrinking the supply of conventional DRAM for phones and PCs. CXMT is aggressively expanding, but monthly capacity won't reach around 350,000 wafers until the end of 2026, with the long-term target of 600,000 wafers not expected until around 2030.

Apple can't secure cheap memory, which means the BOM cost for this fall's new iPhones will only go higher. Apple has already raised prices on iPads and Macs once—whether the iPhone follows is just a matter of time.

Yesterday I wrote an article about motherboard price increases, running through this year's PC hardware price surge—DDR5 memory jumped 89% in a single quarter, SSDs rose 10% to 15%, GPUs went up 30% to 40%, and motherboards are expected to climb 50% as well. That piece looked at it from the consumer's perspective: "how much more does it cost to build a PC now."

Today's news fills in the other side of the equation—the supply chain. No single manufacturer is being greedy and raising prices on its own; the entire memory market's pricing power has shifted from buyers to sellers.

If even Apple—the most powerful buyer in the world—can't negotiate prices down, the rest of us don't stand a chance.

Have you felt the impact of these price hikes recently, whether building a PC or buying digital products? Share your thoughts in the comments.