Apple and memory chips: a flat no, then a quiet maneuver?
Office Hours Research #2026FQ3 #Q&A · 6 comments
by Horace Dediu
An Office Hours question asked by Joseph B., July 31, 2026.
Q: Would Apple buy a memory maker — get into RAM itself?
They said they wouldn't get into this, and I'm surprised they said it — even if they thought they would, I don't know why they would insist on it publicly. I think they feel that it's not within their wheelhouse, as they say. It's not their core competence. It's not that they cannot create it. I'm not going to get into the weeds on this, but basically it's hard. It's unique. It has different dynamics. It's impossible unless you have huge scale, and alone, Apple is probably not big enough as a consumer of its own products, so they'd have to sell them. It just doesn't resonate with them at all.
I thought, maybe six months ago, that as a response to this, they would — despite everybody — buy or build their own. It's funny: they came out with a flat rejection of that. Now I think they'll maybe go behind the scenes, encouraging others to do it, possibly through financing, political maneuvering, something with Intel, something to do with all the cronyism that goes on in Washington these days. I don't know. But they'll back in, as they say. They'll maneuver and figure it out.
It would be ironic if Intel becomes a memory company, after having switched to CPUs from memory at its origin. This is where you are if you're in the semi business: you get whipsawed. It's such a tough business.
Editor's Note: This was one of the questions asked by participants in Asymco's July 2026 Office Hours live Q&A session, held the day after Apple's FQ3 2026 earnings and open to Asymco One subscribers.
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6 comments
Sacto Joe ·
There’s RAM, which is a basic commodity, and there’s unified memory. So the topic gets pretty complex pretty quickly, especially since AI benefits from unified memory.
The other aspect, of course, is that Apple’s ox isn’t the only one getting gored….
masanti.luis ·
When Apple began its journey half a decade ago… it built its own devices —other than in Steve's garage—. There was a wonderful photograph of an assembly line of Macintoshes… controlled by the side by… another Machintosh. Steve Jobs also wanted the place to be extremely clean.
Then came Tim Cook and disband all Apple's owned production sites. That freed Apple to have… multiple suppliers.
On the RAMAgedon —the verge dixit— the problem is that there is no… memory company to buy, even if Apple want to buy one. And the time to build a new noe do not solve the actual problem. In the same sense, Apple do… build CPUs, just design them. I do not know if there is some possible improvements to memory designs that Apple can introduce and… make others build for Apple.
deemery ·
I'm inclined to think Apple would cut a deal with a memory supplier to fund expansion in exchange for 'first refusal' on the product. That's not a near-term fix, but it is insurance from future memory (RAM and Flash) shocks. And it's Apple's special supply chain sauce, the very deep pockets and willingness to think long-term.
AAPL ·
Unfortunately none of the big three or next two Chinese memory manufacturers need any cash to fund expansions. They have more than enough free cash flow coming in. And SKHynix announced today that they are going to do buybacks using more than 50% of FCF.
rbgayle ·
Intel is sure making subtle noises about making memory again. Not as a commodity but what sure sounds like integrated memory connected directly to the main processor, much like Apple Silicon, if I read correctly. Apple would be a great customer. Wonder how long it will take to reach market?
deemery ·
Fair 'nuff. But as Horace and others have pointed out (multiple places), memory prices are cyclical, but Apple's demand is pretty much guaranteed. So that would work for management that actually thinks past the likely AI bust.