Chips & Supply · Asia-Pacific

Apple faces unprecedented memory cost increases as RAM prices continue to surge, manufacturing bill climbs by $33 billion — rising component expenses threaten margins through the holiday quarter and into 2027

Credited to Tom's Hardware · tomshardware.com · 5h ago

Photograph · Tom's Hardware

Apple is about to feel the squeeze from rising memory prices, with the cost of RAM climbing just as the company heads into its busiest shopping season. According to Reuters, Apple expects to pay more for memory in the December quarter, with the CEO, John Ternus, describing the current price increases as “unprecedented. The company has so far managed to soften the blow by using memory bought at lower prices, cutting costs elsewhere and raising prices on some products. However, it is reported that its manufacturing bill has climbed by $33 billion in just a few months.

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But that cushion is getting thinner, and Apple expects memory purchases to become even more expensive into 2027. “What we're seeing with memory pricing right now is unprecedented. And as we said earlier in the September quarter, we did see higher memory costs as compared to the June quarter, which were partly offset by the benefit of carrying inventory and lower costs on certain non-memory components. Now for the December quarter, we expect even higher memory costs, partly offset by a few factors. So as you know, we changed the price on many of our products, including Mac and iPad at the end of June and iPhone in September, and these price increases provided some offset.” Ternus said during Apple’s November 2 earnings call.

Memory is used across Apple's hardware lineup, so sustained price increases could affect manufacturing cost for several product categories—although Apple has not announced another round of price increases. Absorbing higher components could, however, indefinitely become difficult. Dave Nicholson, Chief Research Officer at the Futurum Group, also identified memory prices as a growing pressure point for Apple's margins and hardware pricing through the holiday season and into 2027. According to him, Apple is in a different position from companies pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI data center infrastructure. The impact of higher component costs is easier to quantify than the eventual returns on massive AI capital expenditure, he said.

The next pressure point for @Apple may not be AI CapEx, but the rising cost of memory across its hardware portfolio.@TheFuturumGroup Chief Research Officer @DaveN007 explained that higher memory prices could put more pressure on Apple’s margins and pricing through the holiday season and into 2027. Even with demand holding up, the question is how much of those higher costs consumers will absorb.Dave also sees Apple in a stronger position than companies committing hundreds of billions to data center infrastructure, because the impact of higher component costs is easier to quantify than the long-term returns on massive AI CapEx.▶️ Watch Dave’s analysis of Apple’s margin outlook, memory costs, and why its AI infrastructure strategy could give the company more flexibility.#Apple #AI #Semiconductors #Futurum November 3, 2026

And the warnings from Apple's suppliers suggest that the cost pressure is unlikely to ease quickly. Last month, Samsung, a major supplier of RAM(DRAM), NAND flash storage and OLED displays for Apple, said that memory demand would far exceed supply as AI infrastructure continues to expand. Its memory division also reported a quarter-on-quarter increase in DRAM average prices during the third quarter, while NAND prices rose by high-teen percentages. Senior executive vice president of its memory business warned the supply crunch could extend to 2028 and beyond. Elsewhere, SK Hynix delivered a similar warning, saying it had secured long-term agreements covering more than Half of its production capacity for2027 and 2028. Micron, the third major supplier for Apple aside from Samsung and SK Hynix, is also benefiting from the surging demand for memory. Its latest published outlook warns that supply shortages in memory and storage could take “considerable time” to improve.

We have previously reported several signs of the pressure now confronting Apple. In January, the company was already scrambling to secure memory supplies amid strong demand, with then CEO Tim Cook warning that rising prices could have a greater impact on earnings. By June, rising component expenses had translated into higher retail prices. Apple increased prices across several Mac and iPad models, including a $400 increase to the starting price of the MacBook Pro, due to the RAM crisis. In July, Cook described the memory market as a “ hundred-year-flood ” and said Apple expected to pay more for memory in the September quarter. The company had also increased its inventory to $11.09 billion as it built a buffer against supply and price pressures.

Power & SitesAsia-Pacific

Samsung SDS breaks ground on Gumi AI Data Center in South Korea

Credited to Data Center Dynamics · datacenterdynamics.com2h ago

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Samsung SDS has broken ground on a new AI data center in Gongdan-dong, Gumi-Si, South Korea.

Dubbed the Gumi AI Data Center, the facility will be developed in phases, starting with 60MW of capacity and ultimately scaling to 120MW.

The data center will be housed on a 498,165 sq ft (46,281 sqm) site. With construction now underway, the data center is expected to be completed in late 2028.

The data center project is part of Samsung's commitment to invest 60 trillion won ($44.671bn) in establishing the Yeongnam region as a "Global Physical AI Innovation Cluster." Samsung SDS announced last January that it would invest 427.3 billion ($318 million) in an AI data center in Gumi, and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with North Gyeongsang Province and Gumi City for the construction of the project.

The company is also investing in manufacturing and robot automation, all-solid-state batteries, package substrates for AI servers, and MLCCs (Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors).

The data center will have a hybrid cooling system, combining air cooling in general server areas for networking and storage, and liquid cooling for the high-density GPU server areas.

The data center will host in-house GPUs that can offer compute to customers, but will also have a colocation business to host other companies' hardware.

Lee Jun-hee, president and CEO of Samsung SDS, said: "AI is transforming the way companies work and the competitiveness of industries. For these changes to translate into tangible results, a robust foundation capable of processing vast amounts of data and operating AI stably is required, and the Gumi AI Data Center will fulfill that role."

He added: "Samsung SDS will combine its accumulated experience in data center construction and operation with its cloud and AI technology capabilities to create an AI infrastructure that customers can trust and utilize."

Samsung SDS is the IT and cloud unit of Samsung. In August 2026, it revealed it would be launching an NPU-as-a-Service (NPUaaS) offering in South Korea with FuriosaAI's RNGD NPUs.

Samsung SDS is deploying the RNGD accelerators at its data center in Dongtan, which opened in March 2023. Named Dongtan IDC, the data center spans six floors with four server rooms, and has a PUE of 1.12 enabled by its use of natural air cooling.

Samsung SDS claims to operate 18 data centers from which it offers cloud services, and with the Gumi site, it will have five in South Korea.

Original · Data Center Dynamics

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Models & Labs · Asia-Pacific

Korea Display Industry Association, KOSA Join Forces to Expand AI Adoption in Manufacturing

Credited to TheElec · thelec.net · 1h ago

The Korea Display Industry Association (KDIA) has partnered with the Korea Software Industry Association (KOSA) to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across display manufacturing operations.

KDIA said on November 3 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with KOSA at the Korea Display Industry Association building to promote AI transformation (AX) across the display manufacturing sector.

The partnership covers five areas: matching technologies and expanding networks between AI and software companies and display manufacturers; training specialists in AI and software tailored to the display industry; advancing technologies that combine display and AI; jointly organizing seminars and conferences; and sharing domestic and international industry trends and information.

The two associations aim to connect manufacturing companies' operational needs with relevant AI and software solutions, helping small and midsize materials, components and equipment (MCE) suppliers adopt technologies suited to their production processes and business conditions. They also plan to identify AI implementation projects for individual companies and train specialists to carry them out.

The associations previously co-hosted the "AX Connect Day: Display & Manufacturing" event in October. The event showcased AI adoption cases and solutions from display materials, components and equipment companies, while facilitating business matchmaking between manufacturers and AI providers.

Lee Seung-woo, vice chairman of KDIA, said manufacturing AX was an important means of improving productivity and manufacturing competitiveness in the display industry. He added that the association would expand cooperation between AI and software companies and display manufacturers.