Apple to raise prices due to memory chip shortage - mediaselangor.com

Apple's CEO Tim Cook revealed in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the company plans to raise product prices due to rising costs of memory and storage chips. This move underscores the sev... Read original →

The AI server frenzy for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is draining conventional DRAM capacity, forcing consumer electronics leaders like Apple into involuntary cost absorption. Technically, this not only inflates embedded storage (eMMC/UFS) prices but also disrupts co-optimization between advanced SoCs and memory subsystems. From a compliance standpoint, U.S.-Japan-South Korea chip alliances are tightening supply exclusivity—rendering even Apple’s cash reserves insufficient for true supply chain resilience. Its refusal to build memory fabs reflects strategic risk aversion amid geopolitical volatility. Competitively, Samsung and SK Hynix will prioritize NVIDIA’s AI orders, enabling Android rivals to capture price-sensitive segments with mid-tier devices. Over the next 12–24 months, consumer electronics will likely enter a phase of 'stealth inflation': limited headline price hikes but de facto increases via reduced storage tiers and delayed tech upgrades, steadily shifting industry profits toward AI infrastructure.