Apple warns memory chip crunch makes price rises unavoidable, Cook tells WSJ
A price increase on the iPhone, the world's best-selling consumer electronics device, will draw immediate Washington scrutiny even though memory and storage carry a limited weighting in the CPI basket. Morgan Stanley's estimate of a 15% price bump across smartphones and PCs this year adds a sticky, goods-driven inflation impulse that complicates the Fed's already difficult read on whether current price pressures are transitory. Memory chip makers including Micron, SK Hynix and Kioxia are the direct beneficiaries, with shares already up 800% to 4,600% over the past year. Apple's willingness to deploy its balance sheet to secure supply, short of building its own factories, may provide some floor under its margins but is unlikely to match the three-to-five year prepayment deals AI hyperscalers are locking in.
--- Apple CEO Tim Cook says price increases are unavoidable as AI demand has quadrupled memory chip costs, with Morgan Stanley estimating a 15% shortfall in consumer tech supply by 2027.
Summary: Source: Tim Cook interview with The Wall Street Journal (gated)
- Cook told the WSJ price increases are unavoidable, describing the memory crunch as a hundred-year flood
- AI hyperscaler demand has quadrupled DRAM and NAND prices since last year; TechInsights expects further increases into 2027
- Morgan Stanley estimates memory wafers for consumer tech will fall 15% short of demand by 2027 as suppliers prioritise AI
- Passing costs through at current margins would add around $270 to the next iPhone Pro, per TechInsights
- Cook said Apple is willing to use its balance sheet to help increase supply but ruled out building its own memory factories
- Morgan Stanley forecasts a 15% price increase across smartphones and PCs in the US this year
Apple will raise prices on its products as surging memory and storage costs make absorbing them unsustainable, Chief Executive Tim Cook has told The Wall Street Journal, warning the situation had become a hundred-year flood unlike anything he had seen in over four decades in the electronics supply chain.
Demand from AI companies for high-bandwidth memory has quadrupled the cost of both DRAM and NAND chips since last year, squeezing consumer electronics makers who now compete for supply against hyperscalers signing three-to-five year prepayment agreements. Morgan Stanley estimates that memory wafers available for consumer technology will fall up to 15% short of demand by 2027 as chipmakers including Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron redirect capacity toward AI customers.
TechInsights calculates that passing through current cost increases while maintaining Apple's profit margins would add around $270 to the price of the next iPhone Pro model. Apple's next major launch is expected in September with the iPhone 18 lineup, though price increases on Macs and iPads could come sooner.
Cook said Apple is willing to deploy its balance sheet to help secure supply and called for all options to be examined, including a review of national security restrictions on Chinese memory suppliers. He ruled out building Apple's own memory factories.
The broader impact extends well beyond Apple. Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Nintendo have already raised prices, and Morgan Stanley forecasts a 15% average price increase across smartphones and PCs in the US this year.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.提供 MainLink：Investinglive RSS Breaking News Feed
FX初心者には必須 無料のうちにGET！
