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Apple reported a record quarter on Thursday. Yet outgoing CEO Tim Cook warned of some gathering storm clouds in the form of memory chip supply issues that could impact business in the near future.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday Apple is proud to report our best March quarter ever, with revenue of $111.2 billion and double-digit growth across every geographic segment,\u201d Cook said during Thursday\u2019s earnings call. \u201ciPhone achieved a March quarter revenue record, fueled by such extraordinary demand for the iPhone 17 lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n
Less rosily, Cook relayed that Apple spent more on memory chips in March than in previous quarters, though the company\u2019s costs were offset by its ability to sell stockpiled inventory. But, he warned, the expectation is \u201csignificantly higher memory costs\u201d\u00a0in June and beyond \u2014 the likes of which may \u201cdrive an increasing impact\u201d\u00a0on the business.<\/p>\n
Cook was referencing what has commonly been called \u201cRAMageddon,\u201d the trend of the AI industry guzzling up memory chips with such astonishing gusto it is spurring shortages. This is driving up the prices of hardware. Apple is primarily a hardware company, so that\u2019s obviously not great news for its core products.<\/p>\n
Most notably, the chip shortage has impacted the iPhone. Despite the strong sales figures touted by Apple on Thursday, it has previously been reported that RAM costs have quadrupled \u2014 impacting phone production costs and putting John Ternus, Apple\u2019s incoming CEO, in a less-than-enviable position.<\/p>\n
One possible result may be that Apple increases prices for the iPhone. \u201cThere\u2019s just a little less flexibility in the supply chain at the moment for getting more parts,\u201d Cook told Reuters on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Ternus, who has served as Apple\u2019s senior vice president of hardware engineering, was on Thursday\u2019s earnings call and praised Cook. \u201cIn my view, Tim is one of the greatest business leaders of all time. Stepping into the role of CEO is an incredible honor, and it means a great deal to me to have Tim\u2019s trust and confidence,\u201d Ternus said. <\/p>\n
Techcrunch event<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA<\/span> He will obviously have his work cut out for him when he begins the job on September 1. But he will still have Cook\u2019s supply chain experience to lean on for a while. Cook will become executive chairman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n