Micron Extorts the Supply Chain to Leave Apple Carrying the Consumer Backlash - Yahoo Finance

Micron Technology's latest earnings reveal a stark contrast in profitability, with an 84.9% non-GAAP gross margin versus Apple's 46.9%, highlighting who holds pricing power in the AI era. Micron's 16 ... Read original →

Micron’s HBM4 ramp and 16 strategic customer agreements have cemented its pricing dominance in the AI-driven memory market, with an 84.9% gross margin starkly outpacing Apple’s—signaling that upstream technical moats now dictate supply chain leverage. Technologically, 3nm designs and EUV adoption intensify reliance on high-bandwidth memory, leaving Apple exposed during iPhone 17 production amid tight DRAM supply. On the compliance front, potential U.S. export curbs on advanced memory could further inflate costs for non-U.S. customers. Rivals like Samsung and SK hynix will likely accelerate HBM4 validation to capture residual premium demand, while Apple may double down on on-die cache architectures to reduce DRAM dependency. Over the next 12–24 months, the “long tail” will manifest as sustained HBM premiums from AI server demand, chronic margin pressure in consumer devices, and an irreversible shift of power toward memory suppliers.