Apple once planned to migrate the iPhone to solid-state memory from Chinese company YMTC, but geopolitical changes thwarted those plans. As professional sources reported, smartphones will now use the memory of South Korean Samsung Electronics. These memory modules will appear in Cupertino’s smartphones in 2023.

Previously, the interaction between the two companies had already been observed. Samsung has produced displays and even SoCs for Apple, but now the American company’s dependence on South Korea will only increase. It is possible that companies will negotiate and lower memory prices, which will affect the cost of smartphones.

As for YMTC, the Chinese memory manufacturer may be in trouble. US sanctions in October prohibit the supply of equipment to China with technologies of American origin for the production of memory chips with a technological process lower than 18 nm. And YMTC was preparing to start the production of such a 128-layer flash memory.

The Chinese company CXMT, which specializes in the production of memory chips, has similar problems. Memory module manufacturers using CXMT products may need to look for new suppliers.