CEO Tim Cook said the company can no longer fully absorb rising semiconductor costs driven by AI infrastructure investments.
Apple is considering raising prices across parts of its product portfolio as soaring memory and storage chip costs put pressure on the company’s margins, according to comments from CEO Tim Cook in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
The sharp rise in component costs is being driven by booming demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. As technology companies invest heavily in AI data centers, competition for memory and storage chips has intensified, tightening supply and pushing prices higher across the semiconductor industry.
Cook said Apple has attempted to absorb much of the cost increase to protect consumers but acknowledged that the current situation may no longer be sustainable. While he did not specify when price adjustments could take effect, how large they might be, or which products would be affected, he indicated that higher component costs are becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
The executive highlighted the dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) market as a particular concern. Demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a specialized chip used in AI servers, is attracting a growing share of industry production capacity, leaving less supply available for consumer electronics manufacturers.
Industry groups representing sectors such as automotive, retail and electronics have also warned that the AI-driven surge in memory demand could lead to broader supply chain disruptions and higher prices for consumer products in the United States.
Cook suggested that all potential sources of memory supply should be considered as the industry seeks solutions to ongoing shortages. He also noted that Apple is willing to leverage its financial resources to support efforts aimed at expanding memory production capacity, although he did not provide specific details.
Despite exploring ways to secure supply, Cook ruled out the possibility of Apple entering memory manufacturing directly. He said the company has no plans to build its own memory or storage chip fabrication facilities.
The comments come ahead of Apple’s expected launch of new premium devices, including its first foldable iPhone, later this year.
