Apple will try to avoid raising iPhone 18 prices “as much as possible” in the face of a global memory shortage, according to a report from supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. According to Kuo, Apple plans to “absorb the costs” of rising RAM prices, while at least keeping the iPhone 18’s starting price steady.
Kuo reports that Apple is now negotiating iPhone memory prices with suppliers every quarter, instead of every six months, and that he expects the company to face another price increase during its next round of discussions. The company plans to make up for the rising costs with its services business, which includes subscriptions to apps like Apple Music, iCloud, Apple TV, and others.
Kuo also points out that Apple may not just be dealing with a memory crunch, as other non-RAM components are running low due to suppliers prioritizing the booming AI business. Glass cloth, which several companies like Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm, use on printed circuit boards, is facing a bottleneck as AI companies buy up the same resource.