According to a recent report from ZDNet Korea, Apple has apparently failed to convince Samsung and SK Hynix to supply memory for future iPhones at a favorable price. This has led to speculation that we could see Apple being forced to raise the price of the iPhone 18 series. However, a new report suggests otherwise.
iPhone 18 price could remain steady
According to a post on X by notable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, he claims Apple could maintain the price of its iPhone 18 models. By that, Kuo thinks that Apple will price the phones the same as last year’s models. However, what’s interesting about his post is that he does not dispute that prices of memory will increase. In fact, he corroborates the earlier report about how LPDDR prices will increase in Q1 2026.
So if Apple is expected to pay more for memory, why would they willingly absorb the costs on behalf of consumers? Obviously this isn’t out of the kindness of their hearts. Instead, Kuo says that this is part of Apple’s playbook. The Cupertino company plans to use this chaos in the marketplace to their advantage.
While other competing brands are raising prices to cover their costs, Apple will instead absorb the costs to grab more market share. The analyst believes that Apple will make up for it later from revenue generated by its services. It actually makes perfect sense. Apple does generate a fair amount of money from its hardware. However, taking a look at Apple’s financial reports over the past few years, we can see that revenue generated from services, like iCloud, Apple Music, and Apple One subscriptions is on the rise.Â
This means that while Apple will take a hit in profit in the short-term, the company could easily recoup those losses as more customers buy into its ecosystem.
Shorter negotiation periods
Kuo’s post also reveals that Apple is being forced into new negotiation tactics. In the past, Apple would find a price it likes and attempt to lock that in for the foreseeable future. However, with the volatility of memory prices, Kuo says those negotiations have changed. Instead of being long-term, Apple could be forced to negotiate prices every quarter.
Kuo also suggests that Apple is aware that it won’t just be memory that will face shortages. As the AI boom continues, demand for other components could increase. The analyst doesn’t say what Apple has planned to prepare itself for that situation. However, it is clear that in the next few years, we might be looking back and actually miss the days when flagships used to cost $1,000.
The post iPhone 18 Price May Stay the Same Despite Rising Memory Costs appeared first on Android Headlines.
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