Feb 5 (Reuters) - PC makers HP, Dell, Acer and Asus are considering sourcing memory chips from Chinese chipmakers for the first time amid a global supply crunch that is threatening product launches and pushing up costs across the tech industry, Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. HP, Dell, Acer and Asus did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
This comes at a time when global electronics supply chains are grappling with an acute shortage of memory chips - an essential fixture across devices from smartphones to data centers.
HP has started qualifying products from Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) to expand supply alternatives, Nikkei Asia said citing people familiar with the matter.
The PC maker is planning to continue monitoring the memory chip supply situation till about mid-2026, and if dynamic random access memory (DRAM) supplies remain tight and prices continue to rise, it would likely start sourcing from CXMT for the first time for non-U.S. markets, the report added.
Dell is also qualifying CXMT's DRAM products out of fear that memory prices will continue to surge throughout 2026, Nikkei Asia said.
Acer is also open to using Chinese-made memory chips if Chinese contract suppliers purchase them, the report said, adding that Asus has also asked its Chinese production partners to help source memory chips for some notebook projects.
(Reporting by Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
