Huawei and Xiaomi have quietly locked up most of the output from China’s largest memory chipmaker, CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies), through long-term, high-price contracts — a move that has ripple effects well beyond Apple, which tried and failed to use CXMT as pricing leverage against Samsung and SK Hynix.
The Wall Street Journal reported on August 9 that Apple has been testing CXMT memory chips across iPhones and MacBooks, aiming to diversify away from Korean suppliers amid an AI-driven DRAM shortage. But a separate report from DigiTimes, citing South Korean and Chinese trade press, reveals that Apple’s broader strategy — using CXMT as a credible alternative to pressure Samsung and SK Hynix into lowering DRAM prices — has backfired entirely.
Why CXMT Could Not Undercut Samsung and SK Hynix
CXMT is barred from accessing EUV lithography tools under U.S. export controls, forcing it to rely on older DUV equipment. According to a cost analysis cited by TechTimes, that older process requires roughly 30 percent more wafer starts to produce the same output as EUV-equipped fabs — meaning matching Korean suppliers’ LPDDR5X pricing is CXMT’s cost floor, not a discount it can offer. When Apple pushed for a lower quote, CXMT declined.
Making matters worse for Apple, Huawei and Xiaomi had already secured most of CXMT’s production capacity on long-term deals, according to Digital Daily. CXMT simply does not need Apple’s business enough to negotiate down.
What This Means for Android Phone Prices
The failure of Apple’s leverage play leaves Samsung and SK Hynix — which together supply the vast majority of LPDDR memory used in Android flagships — facing less competitive pressure to lower prices. That matters because DRAM costs have been a central driver of rising smartphone component costs throughout 2026, with Qualcomm raising Snapdragon chip prices by double-digit percentages and Google’s own VP citing RAM costs as the reason behind the Pixel 11’s expected price hike.
Huawei and Xiaomi locking up domestic Chinese DRAM capacity at above-market rates is itself a signal of how tight supply has become. Both companies are paying a premium to guarantee allocation — the same squeeze that is pushing finished phone prices higher across every major brand, from Samsung’s Galaxy S and Fold lines to Google’s Pixel series.
Meanwhile, laptop makers HP and Acer have already started using CXMT memory chips in devices sold outside the U.S. to ease their own supply constraints, according to the Reuters report. Whether any Android OEM follows that path remains to be seen, though U.S. political pressure — a group of senators led by Chuck Schumer sent Apple a letter in late July demanding it commit to avoiding CXMT and YMTC chips entirely — could complicate any Western company’s calculus.
The Bigger Picture
This is not an isolated Apple problem. The DRAM squeeze is structural: Korean chipmakers are prioritizing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production for AI servers over the LPDDR chips that go into phones and laptops, and the one major non-Korean alternative (CXMT) is both capacity-constrained and already spoken for. For Android buyers, the practical takeaway has not changed — memory costs are baked into device prices for the foreseeable future, and waiting for a correction that depends on geopolitics, export controls, and AI capital spending is not a reliable strategy.
Sources: DigiTimes (via MacRumors), Reuters/WSJ
