Apple Faces Memory Crunch as AI Data Centers Push iPhone Revenue to $54 Billion
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Finance · Aug 23
Apple Faces Memory Crunch as AI Data Centers Push iPhone Revenue to $54 Billion
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Finance · Aug 23
Summary
Apple has been hit by an industrywide memory shortage tied to AI data-center buildouts, a squeeze that already forced price increases earlier this year and has weighed on the stock, Jim Cramer said.
Meta and Google are competing for the same memory supply, raising chip prices as Apple tries to keep phone prices down; reports have also linked Apple to potential purchases from Chinese memory maker CXMT.
Apple’s latest quarter still showed strong top-line momentum, with iPhone revenue up 21% to $54 billion and total revenue up 16.4% to $109 billion, while annual capital spending remained about $11 billion.
Weakness outside the iPhone is sharpening investor debate over Apple’s AI payoff: Services revenue of $30.7 billion missed $31.2 billion estimates, and iPad sales fell 5.9% to $6.1 billion.
Valuation leaves little room for missteps, with Apple trading at 32 times forward earnings; hedge-fund ownership was nearly flat at 170 funds in Q1 versus 169 in Q4.