Tech giant Apple says there will likely be an “unprecedented” rise in the price of memory chips, as it battles with datacenters for supplies, and that the higher prices will eat into its profit margins.
“What we’re seeing with memory pricing right now is unprecedented,” John Ternus, Apple’s new chief executive, told investors during a conference call on November 2. He predicted that memory costs in Q4 2026 would be even higher than in the previous three months. The iPhone maker’s shares fell in after-hours trading on the news.
In what The Guardian describes as “RAMageddon,” the demand for memory chips from AI datacenters has surged, blocking out other users and driving up prices.
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Ternus said Apple’s decision to raise iPad and MacBook prices in June, followed by iPhone prices in September, had “provided some offset” for the company.
Ternus got a relatively positive start to his tenure as CEO, which started in September, with Apple reporting stronger-than-expected revenue in the fiscal third quarter, bucking a downward trend for tech companies this quarter, as companies including Alphabet, Amazon and Intel had disappointing quarterly results.
