To no one’s surprise, Apple’s Q2 2026 earnings turned out to be an excellent quarter for the technology giant, but it might not always be sunshine and rainbows going forward, especially during the DRAM crisis, which threatens to crush the stability of the company’s prices, especially iPhones.
During the quarterly earnings call, CEO Tim Cook warned that while the Cupertino firm will do its best to avert the problem, there’s a chance Apple may have to throw in the towel and pass the cost increases to customers. Still, the amount of resilience shown by the trillion-dollar entity is certainly praiseworthy.
Tim Cook warns that beyond the June quarter, the memory shortage could negatively impact iPhone prices, but Apple is trying ways to circumvent the problem
An iPhone’s memory will soon make up 45 percent of a unit’s Bill Of Materials (BOM), and that’s severely bad news, as Apple would now be forced to fork over $180 per 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM, making it a tough situation as far as maintaining prices go. During the Q2 2026 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that the company has managed to keep a lid on costs by pre-purchasing memory and storage.
This would explain why the December and March quarters completely shielded Apple as profits were ‘sky high.’ It’s the June quarter where things will start to get worrisome as the aforementioned DRAM and NAND flash supply will start to run thin. Naturally, the company will have to purchase newer parts at inflated prices, adversely affecting the margins on each product.
However, beyond the June quarter is where Apple enters the danger zone, because once the company’s stockpile has run dry, it would be forced to raise prices, despite being rumored to freeze the MSRP of the iPhone 18 series. As Apple looks for ways to avert this crisis, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously suggested that the company should absorb these costs and take advantage of the market chaos.
Thanks to its Services division now being a $30.976 billion business, Kuo believes that it should provide sufficient financial protection from the DRAM shortage. The worst part of this situation is that Apple would be preparing for the iPhone 18 launch while its DRAM and NAND flash stock runs dry. Fortunately, one way the company has managed to protect itself from this mess is by streamlining its supply chain, with both its Macs and iPhones utilizing the same storage chips.
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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