Apple reportedly seeks alternative flash memory chip suppliers

Apple Inc. is reportedly mulling the strategy of buying NAND flash memory chips from China’s Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. amid fears of enhanced source chain disruption.

A report Wednesday from Bloomberg stated Apple has been testing flash memory chips crafted by the Chinese company and holding negotiations around a probable provide agreement for numerous months. The negotiations are reportedly in response to an incident at a Japanese facility jointly owned by Apple’s main flash memory supplier Kioxia Corp. and Western Electronic Corp. that saw 6.5 exabytes of 3D NAND flash dropped owing to contamination problems.

Kioxi and Western Digital’s chips are extensively used in Apple’s iPhones and other equipment. The organization reportedly has previously created up for the dropped creation by securing new chips from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and SK Hynix Inc. It also routinely orders chips from Micron Know-how Inc. Having said that, it is now seeking to reduce its reliance on Kioxia and Western Digital in order to “maintain offer chain regularity and dependability,” Bloomberg reported.

Yangtze Memory is the only Chinese flash memory chip provider that can develop enough quantity for Apple’s wants. Even so, it is significantly scaled-down than Kioxia, Samsung and Micron, so it will rarely obstacle those people suppliers.

In fact, Bloomberg mentioned, the sheer volume of chips utilized by Apple implies it is unclear no matter whether or not Yangtze Memory has the skill to fulfill Apple’s demands. Apple is also known to be a very demanding consumer, positioning large orders and anticipating to be given priority as a matter of course.

That said, a quantity deal with Apple would give Yangtze Memory a sizeable strengthen in status in the earth of flash memory suppliers. Most analysts feel it is guiding the curve in know-how. Yangtze Memory would make so-termed string-stacked 128-layer NAND chips using Xstacking engineering with individual controller logic chips and NAND chips. In distinction, Kioxia and Western Electronic both of those manufacture 162-layer chips, though Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix use a 176-layer system.

Inspite of the more mature tech, DigiTimes documented that Yangtze Memory’s flash chips have currently passed Apple’s validation exams and claimed that tiny volume shipments would begin in May.

Whether or not which is true or not remains to be witnessed, due to the fact by environment up a source offer with a Chinese maker, Apple would be jogging counter to the U.S.’s trade plan of turning into much less dependent on Chinese-created technology.

Block and Documents reported today that it could be that Apple is merely employing the negotiations to maximize the force on its other suppliers to give it bigger precedence.

Photograph: Unsplash