Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company will raise product prices to offset the soaring costs of memory and storage chips. The price surge is due to intense competition for limited components, driven by AI-related demand. Cook stated the situation is unsustainable but did not specify which products or by how much prices would increase.
Apple plans to raise prices on its products to offset increasing memory and storage chip costs, CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. Prices have skyrocketed as a result of consumer electronics businesses competing fiercely for the limited supply of essential components due to an increase in AI-driven demand for data centers.
Earlier this month, organisations representing retailers, automakers, electronic companies, and other businesses issued a warning that the rising demand for memory chips might cause supply chain disruptions and sharp price increases in US consumer products.
"Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable," Cook stated to the Wall Street Journal. "We're doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we've been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable."
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Cook, who will turn over management to John Ternus in September, did not specify which goods would be affected or when or how much prices might increase. According to reports, Apple plans to launch its first foldable iPhone in September along with the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.
Cook told the Journal that the corporation is concerned about both memory and storage prices, with a particular emphasis on the DRAM sector. He observed that high-bandwidth memory, commonly utilised in AI servers, is seeing more supply.
"There is less supply at a time when consumers want devices, and the memory companies are passing on massive price increases. We absolutely require memory cost and supply to recover to normal levels for consumer goods. That is the bottom line,” he explained.
In the interview, Cook stated that Apple is willing to utilise its financial reserves to increase memory supply, but did not provide any specifics. "We're willing to use our balance sheet to help be a part of the solution," he stated. "Obviously, more capacity is needed."
Cook clarified that Apple has no plans to use its cash and silicon expertise to build its own memory and storage factories.
