Apple Inc. postponed plans to use memory chips from China's Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC) in its smartphones because Washington increased export restrictions against Chinese technology companies, the Nikkei said on Monday. Nikkei said that Apple had previously planned to start using the NAND flash memory chips supplied by the state-funded YMTC as early as this year.

At initially, the chips were only planned to be used in iPhones sold in the Chinese market. Nikkei said that Apple had previously planned to start using the NAND flash memory chips supplied by the state-funded YMTC as early as this year. At initially, the chips were only planned to be used in iPhones sold in the Chinese market.

According to the newspaper, YMTC may potentially supply up to 40% of the chips needed for each iPhone. A list of companies that U.S. investigators have been unable to check was updated last week to include 30 additional Chinese organisations, including the largest memory chip manufacturer in China, YMTC. This heightened tensions with Beijing and started a 60-day clock that could result in even harsher penalties.

The Chinese telecom company Huawei Technologies Co. is on a list of blacklisted companies, and the U.S. Commerce Department is investigating whether YMTC sold chips to them. Ltd. is breaking American export regulations.

The Biden administration's extensive export controls on China are meant to limit Beijing's technological and military gains by preventing Beijing from obtaining particular semiconductor chips made elsewhere in the world utilising American technology.