Tech giant Apple has stalled plans to use Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC)’s memory chips in its products after the US tightened export controls on Chinese tech companies, the Nikkei reported on Monday.
According to Nikkei, Apple had planned to begin using NAND flash memory chips produced by YMTC as early as this year. The chips were originally intended to be used only in iPhones sold in China.
Last week, the US added China’s state-funded YMTC and 30 other Chinese entities to a list of companies that US officials have been unable to inspect, escalating tensions with Beijing and triggering a 60-day clock that could result in much harsher penalties.
The new listings were the first of a series of restrictions announced on exports of technology to China on Friday, all of which are intended to halt military advancements by cutting off China’s supplies of certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with U.S. equipment.
Additionally, the US Department of Commerce is looking into whether YMTC broke America’s export controls by providing chips to the banned Chinese telecoms firm Huawei.
