Apple is viewing the ongoing AI-driven crunch in memory capacity as a strategic opportunity and a cudgel of sorts to beat back upstart competitors, as per the gist of a new research note from Daishin Securities.
Apple is using strategic levers to gain an advantage over its competitors as the ongoing memory crunch continues to unfold, as per a new research note from Daishin Securities
We reported on supply chain chatter in early April, suggesting that Apple was actively buying up "all available mobile DRAM on the market" to prevent its competitors from securing enough memory chips.
Well, Daishin Securities has just validated at least a part of that supply chain chatter by suggesting that Apple is actively hoarding memory to prevent its competitors from reaching their respective shipment targets, while increasing its own iPhone shipment target to a still-conservative 240 million units.
Critically, the report notes that Apple's soaking up of mobile DRAM has created a panic of sorts among Chinese OEMs, who have also started stockpiling this critical resource, aggravating the ongoing shortage in the market.
Of course, TF Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, is the apparent architect of this paradigm. After all, he advised Apple all the way back in January 2026 to exploit the ongoing chaos in the memory sphere by absorbing stratospheric memory chip prices and sacrificing some of its already-hefty margins to freeze the prices of its sprawling portfolio of devices.
Apple's overarching strategy of hoarding memory while freezing the prices of its products scored a home run just this week when Microsoft implemented a significant across-the-board price hike for its Surface laptops.
Following these price hikes, Apple's MacBooks have gained a significant strategic edge. Consider the fact that the 12-inch Surface Pro now starts at $1,049, while the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air from Apple starts at $999. For context, this base Surface variant previously retailed for just $799.
At the other end of the spectrum, the 15-inch Surface laptop with 64GB of RAM, the Snapdragon X Elite SoC, and a 1TB SSD now costs $3,649. For comparison, the 16-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro from Apple with equal RAM and SSD starts at $3,299.
What's more, Apple intends to continue this strategy with the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max by freezing the prices of the Pro duo, while limiting availability to just three finishes.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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