Apple faces pressure over China chip sourcing

New Delhi: A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has urged Apple Inc. to abandon plans to source memory chips from Chinese semiconductor companies CXMT Corp. and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC), warning that such a move could pose long-term national security risks and increase the company’s dependence on suppliers linked to Beijing.

In a letter addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the lawmakers asked the iPhone maker not to use chips from the two companies, even in products meant exclusively for the Chinese market.

The senators, led by Republican Jim Banks and Democrat Chuck Schumer, noted that both CXMT and YMTC are included on the Pentagon’s updated list of Chinese entities believed to sup-port China’s military.

The lawmakers argued that sourcing chips from these companies could eventually expose Apple’s global supply chain to strategic risks, even if the components were initially limited to devices sold in China.