واشنطن ، الولايات المتحدة – تواجه شركة “آبل” الأمريكية ضغوطاً اقتصادية غير مسبوقة دفعتها لاتخاذ خطوة مثيرة للجدل. حيث كشفت تقارير حديثة عن سعي عملاق التكنولوجيا الأمريكي للحصول على موافقة إدارة الرئيس دونالد ترامب لشراء رقائق ذاكرة من شركة صينية مدرجة على القائمة السوداء للولايات المتحدة.
Apple between the “hammer of costs” and the “anvil of politics”
These moves come amid Apple’s struggles with soaring production costs due to a global shortage of memory semiconductors. This has recently prompted the company to raise prices across its entire MacBook and iPad range.
This decision has negatively impacted investor confidence. The company’s stock has fallen by more than 6%, and its market capitalization has lost approximately $263 billion, marking its second-largest decline in history.
According to the Financial Times, Apple is lobbying the US Department of Commerce and Trump administration officials to allow it to contract with Changxin Memory Technology (CXMT), a Chinese company specializing in dynamic random-access memory (DRAM).
CXMT is listed by the US Department of Defense as a company linked to the Chinese military. This designation imposes legal penalties and significant reputational risks on any entity that does business with the company.
sharp legislative opposition
Despite Apple’s efforts to diversify its supply chain to reduce costs, its path in Washington appears fraught with obstacles. The move has been met with staunch political opposition; John Molina, chairman of the House Subcommittee on China, criticized Apple’s potential move, calling it a “grave mistake.”
Molina warned that such cooperation could help the Chinese Communist Party consolidate its control over global technology supply chains.
This parliamentary pressure is an extension of previous hardline stances; current Finance Minister Marco Rubio, during his time as a senator in 2022, strongly criticized any move by Apple to adopt chips from the Chinese flash memory company YMTC, describing it as “playing with fire,” given that the company is also on the Chinese military’s blacklist.
An uncertain future
This crisis places Apple at a difficult crossroads. While the company strives to maintain its profit margins and secure competitively priced components in a volatile market, its clash with Washington’s national security concerns could cost it far more than mere financial losses.
With strong opposition persisting in Congress, Apple’s success in persuading the US administration to open the door to Chinese chips hinges on its ability to balance the demands of the global economy with the stringent political restrictions Washington imposes on Beijing.
