by Before a new round of U.S. chip sanctions against China earlier this month, Apple had completed the certification process for the NAND flash memory of Chinese chip company “Yangtze Memory” and was preparing to use the storage chips provided by the factory in large quantities. But after a new round of chip sanctions, Apple has now suspended plans to use Yangtze River memory chips.
“Nihon Keizai Shimbun” quoted high-level news from supply chain companies that Apple originally planned to use YMTC’s NAND flash memory as soon as this year. The main reason for the adoption is because the quotation of Yangtze River Storage is relatively cheap. Nikkei quoted another source as saying that because YMTC has subsidies from the Chinese government, their offer is 20% cheaper than that of competitors.
Nikkei learned from information provided by a number of people familiar with the matter that Apple originally only planned to use the flash memory of YMTC in the iPhone sold in the Chinese market. Later, considering the cost factor, it was decided that 40% of the iPhones in the world use YMTC flash memory. Then, due to geopolitical factors and pressure from the US government, the decision was finally cancelled.
Last week, the U.S. government expanded its export controls on Chinese chips, affecting U.S. chip companies such as Applied Materials, KLA, and Lam Research. Businesses in China have been suspended, and company employees and equipment have begun to leave China.
source:Nihon Keizai Shimbun
