Report: iPhone Memory Costs Set to Quadruple by 2027
Memory could account for as much as 45 percent of an iPhone’s component costs by 2027, up from around 10 percent today, according to a JPMorgan analysis cited by the Financial Times ($). Apple buys memory for roughly 250 million iPhones a year and has historically been one of the largest customers in the category. But Apple has reportedly now gone from a position where it could set terms to one where it now has to compete with rivals for supply. The principal reason is the heavily subsidized AI build-out that’s underway. In a race to make data centers that can handle more compute for frontier AI models, AI infrastructure buyers like Nvidia are now reportedly outbidding consumer electronics makers for limited supply from the likes of Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. Meanwhile, cloud companies are reportedly making upfront payments worth billions of dollars to secure capacity. It’s a marked break from the industry norm of committing to volumes with suppliers first and negotiating prices later. The pressure is already reshaping Apple’s product plans, and …
