Apple laid out both good and bad news about iPhone sales in its earnings call Thursday: On the one hand, CEO Tim Cook revealed that the company had record sales of $85.3 billion for its last quarter, driven by its iPhone 17 and iPhone Air lineups.
On the other, Cook said, Apple left money on the table because it couldn’t meet all the demand for iPhones due to constraints on the chips it needs to make those phones.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add as a preferred Google source.
Cook called the demand for new iPhones “staggering,” but admitted that the world’s largest tech company is dealing with the same supply-chain constraints that other tech companies are dealing with globally, which are partly due to a massive increase in memory prices caused by shortages and the use of some of these components by AI companies.
Apple is also having trouble finding enough manufacturing capacity for its A and M systems-on-a-chip, which are made by TSMC and Apple, respectively.
The prices of RAM for computers and phones have risen significantly over the last year, as demand for AI technology has diverted some of those components to data centers. There’s been anticipation that memory price spikes and shortages of these components could lead to higher prices for computers and for smartphones. There’s no indication yet that Apple would raise prices on iPhones due to these shortages, but it’s a possibility.
What does that mean for iPhone customers?
So far, there are no reports of widespread iPhone shortages, at least not yet.
One way Apple plans to deal with the huge demand that comes with its annual iPhone launch, according to reports, is to stagger the release of specific iPhone models, rolling them out at least every six months, starting with the upcoming iPhone 18 generation, or perhaps even sooner.
That idea has been bolstered by a new report from Nikkei Asia suggesting that Apple could release a new foldable phone later this year, as well as advanced iPhone 18 models, while pushing its basic iPhone 18 to a 2027 release.
A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
