New Delhi: Apple has raised the starting prices of numerous MacBook and iPad models by approximately 20 per cent to 42 per cent compared to their initial launch prices worldwide, including in India, primarily due to the increasing costs of memory chips.The updated pricing on Apple's India website indicates that the company has raised the cost of the MacBook Pro powered by the M5 series chip by nearly 20 per cent. The price of the 14-inch MacBook Pro featuring the M5 Pro chip has been increased to Rs 2,99,900 from its original launch price of Rs 2,49,900.There has also been a sharp increase in the price of the iPad Air. The base 13-inch iPad Air model now costs Rs 1,19,900, up 41.22 per cent from its launch price of Rs 84,900.
Counterpoint Research Co-founder and Vice President of Research Neil Shah said Apple's price increases for the MacBook Neo, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iPad Air and iPad Pro Wi-Fi reflect the biggest shift in the cost structure of the consumer and enterprise PC and tablet market, driven by rising semiconductor prices ranging from memory chips to processors.
Apple said in a statement that the consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge.
"The rapid expansion of AI data centres has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly. We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today's increases for iPad and Mac. We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions," the company said.
Price increases across the consumer electronics industry are already widespread, with many products becoming 40 per cent or more expensive.
Memory manufacturers have been allocating an increasing share of production to AI data centres, leaving the consumer electronics segment with constrained supply and rising costs.
Memory suppliers are also reporting record profit margins.
Memory chip manufacturer Micron reported gross margins of 86 per cent, up from 15 per cent over the past year.
"Apple, long regarded as the industry's benchmark for supply chain resilience, has begun passing higher component costs on to consumers. That is a strong signal that pricing pressures have reached a level that even the most sophisticated absorption strategies cannot fully offset", CyberMedia Research Vice President, Industry Research Group, Prabhu Ram said.
Shah said Apple had absorbed the higher costs for at least two quarters to protect its customer base from inflationary pressures but had now reached a point where it could no longer do so.
"The unprecedented AI infrastructure growth has changed the semiconductor supply chain, driving insatiable demand for DRAM, NAND and compute chips, without matching manufacturing capacity for other markets as AI infrastructure is prioritised. We believe the situation is unlikely to improve for at least the next two years", he said.
Shah added that the timing of the price increase is not ideal, as Apple prepares to roll out its upgraded on-device Apple Intelligence features later this year across devices requiring significantly greater memory and computing capabilities.
"This could affect overall demand for Apple products in the coming months. However, it could also benefit Apple because customers who are due for an upgrade and cannot delay their purchase may choose a higher-end configuration rather than paying more for a lower specification. As a result, demand could shift further towards premium models as users seek maximum value for their spending", Shah said.