Apple, Microsoft lift prices as AI chip shortage deepens - MSN

Apple and Microsoft are raising product prices due to chip shortages, highlighting severe challenges in the global semiconductor supply chain. As AI data centers consume most of the global memory supp... Read original →

The voracious demand from AI data centers for high-bandwidth memory has triggered a 'memory crowding-out effect' in consumer electronics. Apple and Microsoft’s price hikes reflect not temporary cost pass-through but a structural mismatch in DRAM/NAND capacity allocation. Extended lead times for semiconductor equipment, tightening OSAT capacity in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, China, and U.S. CHIPS Act incentives skewed toward advanced nodes have collectively starved mature-node expansions. Samsung may accelerate HBM3E validation to lock in NVIDIA orders, while SK Hynix could ration LPDDR5 supply, intensifying inventory anxiety among smartphone and PC makers. Over the next 18 months, the industry will be forced to adopt an 'AI-first' wafer allocation model, spurring adoption of chiplet and heterogeneous integration as mitigation strategies. Should U.S.-Japan-Netherlands export controls further restrict equipment components, global memory pricing could stair-step upward with no inflection before 2027.