Apple said price hikes for its products are unavoidable because memory chip prices have surged.
On the 17th, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), "Unfortunately, price increases are inevitable," adding, "We have done our best to absorb the steep increases so customers would be spared, but we can no longer sustain it."
Cook said that in his time working at electronics corporations from IBM to Compaq to Apple, he had never seen raw material prices like these, calling it "a once-in-a-century great flood." He added, "In more than 40 years, I have never seen anything like this in any field."
Cook did not give details on the timing or scale of price increases, or which products would be affected. The industry believes the iPhone 18 series, to be unveiled in the second half of this year, could be affected by the price hikes. The WSJ analyzed that "price increases for Macs and iPads could come sooner than expected."
Cook said, "When consumers want devices, supply is short, and memory suppliers are raising prices sharply," adding, "Prices and supply for memory needed for consumer products must return to reasonable levels." He said that in his more than 40 years in supply chains, this was the first time he had seen such a spike, calling it "a once-in-100-years flood."
Cook also said Apple is willing to provide funding to help expand memory supply. He said, "We are prepared to use our financial capacity to be part of the solution," adding, "Clearly, more production capacity is needed." However, he drew a line at building its own memory plant, saying, "We cannot do everything, and we know what we do well."