Republican lawmakers have warned Apple that it will face intense scrutiny from Congress if the California company procures memory chips from a controversial Chinese semiconductor manufacturer for the new iPhone 14.
Demetri Sevastopulo and Patrick McGee for Financial Times:
Marco Rubio, Republican vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, and Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House foreign affairs committee, said they were alarmed following a media report(opens a new window) that Apple would add Yangtze Memory Technologies Co to its list of suppliers for Nand flash memory chips that are used to store data on smartphones.
“Apple is playing with fire,” Rubio told the Financial Times. “It knows the security risks posed by YMTC. If it moves forward, it will be subject to scrutiny like it has never seen from the federal government. We cannot allow Chinese companies beholden to the Communist party into our telecommunications networks and millions of Americans’ iPhones.”
Asked about the congressional concerns, Apple told the FT it did not use YMTC chips in any products but said it was “evaluating sourcing from YMTC for Nand chips to be used in some iPhones sold in China”.
Apple said it was not considering using YMTC chips in phones for sale outside China. It added that all user data stored on Nand chips used by the company were “fully encrypted”.
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader, has also privately raised concerns with commerce secretary Gina Raimondo about YMTC, according to a person familiar with the situation.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple is not considering using YMTC chips in iPhones for sale outside China, nor, from the sound of it, will they be doing so anytime in the foreseeable future.
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YMTC = you must turf China?
“Apple said it was not considering using YMTC chips in phones for sale outside China.”
Breaking News for Clueless Cook: The ONLY way for potentially damaging YMTC chips not end up planted in the U.S. and maintain national security — JUST SAY NO!…