The company reported its strongest June quarter to date, with iPhone and Mac sales climbing 22% and 29% respectively. Despite these gains, the scramble for advanced memory nodes required for A-Series and M-Series processors has forced a strategic pivot. Cook admitted that the supply chain lacks the flexibility to mitigate these shortages, leading the firm to reluctantly hike prices on its iPad and Mac lines. This trend of rising hardware costs mirrors similar moves by industry rivals, including Meta, Samsung, Microsoft, and Sony.
Apple stockpiles hardware as memory shortages threaten production
Inventory levels at Apple have nearly doubled to $11.1 billion, signaling a sharp departure from the company’s lean manufacturing philosophy. Facing what CEO Tim Cook describes as a 'hundred-year flood' in memory pricing, the tech giant is bracing for severe supply constraints that threaten to stifle its recent hardware momentum.
Investors reacted sharply to the warnings, driving Apple stock down 6% in after-hours trading as the company projected revenue growth to slow to between 9% and 11%. As John Ternus prepares to take the helm as CEO in September, the challenge will be navigating a tightening market that has already forced the company to abandon its long-standing practice of minimizing on-hand inventory.
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