Apple CEO says iPhone price hikes are inevitable due to component costs
Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that rising memory chip prices will force Apple to raise iPhone prices, though the company has tried to absorb some of the increase.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that the company faces "unsustainable" pressure from rising memory chip costs and that price increases for its products are unavoidable. Cook said Apple has been trying to shield customers by absorbing higher component expenses, but the situation has become untenable.
He did not specify which devices would see higher prices or the exact amount of any increase. Analysts anticipate that the upcoming iPhone 18 could be priced up to $200 higher than the iPhone 17, reflecting an estimated $150 rise in memory and storage component costs, according to a market research firm cited by the newspaper.
Apple has long been a major purchaser of memory storage, but competition from artificial-intelligence firms has driven up component prices. Cook’s comments appear aimed at setting expectations ahead of the iPhone 18 launch scheduled for later this year.
