Report: Apple Is Considering Using Chinese-Made Flash Memory for the First Time

Apple is reportingly contemplating including to its fleet of reminiscence chip producers after contamination at key NAND manufacturing amenities earlier this 12 months.

The tech large is now testing pattern NAND flash reminiscence from Chinese semiconductor Yangtze Memory Technologies, a Wuhan-based firm based in 2016. Apple already works with Samsung and SK Hynix Inc. however is trying to additional diversify in an effort to mitigate the dangers of provide shortages, in keeping with a Bloomberg report, citing an unnamed supply.

Discussions with Yangtze, a newcomer backed by chipmaking large Tsinghua Unigroup, have reportedly been ongoing for a number of months, although a deal has but to be finalized. The semiconductor is reportedly convincing Apple that it might make reliable parts on the scale vital for the Cupertino-based firm to meet rising product demand. As Bloomberg notes, Yangtze’s reminiscence is not less than a technology behind and may very well be utilized in entry-level units just like the iPhone SE or as extra of a backup to Samsung, Toshiba, and Korean provider Hynix.

This isn’t the primary time we’ve heard about Apple probably turning to China for NAND reminiscence for the primary time. In 2018, Nikkei reported that Apple would begin buying from Yangtze. It’s unclear what occurred throughout these preliminary talks nevertheless it appears the choice is now again on the desk.

“Yangtze memory will supply about 5% of memory for iPhone SE, and 3% to 5% of memory for the upcoming iPhone 14. Apple is using its product because it offers competitive pricing,” Jeff Pu, an analyst with Haitong International Securities, predicted, in keeping with Bloomberg.

Apple could really feel rising stress to search out different sources for this crucial element after Western Digital and Kioxia revealed in February that contaminated supplies utilized in flash-memory chips ruined not less than 6.5 exabytes, or greater than 6.5 million terabytes, of storage. What direct affect the incident had on Apple is unclear, nonetheless, the value of NAND—the principle element of SSDs—is estimated to extend by as much as 10%.

An ongoing provide scarcity for chips has crippled the automotive and electronics business for the previous few years, inflicting the value of sure merchandise to extend and making others practically inconceivable to buy. Intel, Samsung, and TSMC have revealed plans to construct large factories within the United States because the Biden administration makes an attempt to deliver semiconductor manufacturing to U.S. soil as a strategy to compete in opposition to China and alleviate provide chain shortages.

According to a December Bloomberg report, the White House thought-about doubling down on guidelines that prohibit the sale of apparatus to China’s largest chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp as a method of limiting the nation’s capability to supply pc chips. So far, America’s makes an attempt to decelerate China’s technological progress have had little affect on Apple.