US Government Pressures Apple to Ditch Chinese Suppliers

Apple is facing pressure from the U.S. government over its plans to source memory components from Chinese suppliers. The Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, stated that the Trump administration does not support Apple purchasing memory from Chinese manufacturers. He also indicated that the government has urged the company to expand its domestic manufacturing operations.

The issue arises as demand for artificial intelligence puts pressure on the broader memory market. Apple is evaluating memory supplied by China-based ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, for potential use in products such as iPhones and MacBooks.

Apple's shares closed at $305.26 on August 14 and rose 0.22% during the session. The company had a market capitalization of about $4.46 trillion, while its forward price-to-earnings ratio stood at 34.77.