Apple seems to be looking east again, but this time in search of a new reliable manufacturer of fast flash storage solutions. New reports suggest that the company will from now on buy flash memory chips for its phones for the first time from a Chinese manufacturer.
At the moment, Apple buys most of its flash memory chips from Japanese companies Western Digital and Kioxia. However, it seems that this will change because Apple wants to include one manufacturer from China in its circle of partners. What exactly is it about?
As is already known, Kioxia and Western Digital suffered an accident in January that contaminated a large number of their flash memory chips, which significantly reduced production. And Apple needs storage chips right now, so they found a temporary solution by turning to Samsung and SK Hynix. However, this event prompted Apple to start thinking about expanding its list of partners.
According to rumors, Apple will most likely request memory chips from a Chinese manufacturer for the first time. Yangtze Memory Technologies Co.’s NAND flash memory chips are currently being tested. According to unofficial allegations, Apple has been in negotiations for the necessary chips from this company for several months, which suggests that the negotiations are serious and that this company is determined to expand its circle of suppliers.
However, it will be difficult for Apple to avoid political outrage, because the position of the United States is known, so doing business with Chinese companies is not encouraged. But we have no doubt that Apple would find a way to successfully navigate these turbulent waters.
At this moment, there is no more concrete information on how far the negotiations have reached or whether they will be finalized. The fact is that there is a slight shortage at the moment and that the prices of NAND flash memory will increase by 5 to 10 percent. Therefore, it is not surprising that Apple decided to expand the list of its suppliers to the east.
READ MORE:
- You can now iCloud Lock your AirPods
- New details about the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro
- The latest HomePod Mini update brings shaky Siri voice (VIDEO)
