Apple has cornered PC and Android manufacturers.

Originally just a by - product of Apple's "inventory clearance", it has become the hottest item in 2026.

In March, the entry - level MacBook product, Neo, was officially launched. The official starting price in the domestic market is only 4,599 yuan, and after channel subsidies, the actual price is even below 4,000 yuan. One of the reasons why the price can be kept so low is that the A18 Pro chip installed in the MacBook Neo is not a new product. It is actually the inventory left from the iPhone 16 Pro production line.

Apple put an outdated chip into the laptop after disabling one core. We have to admire the ability of supply - chain management master Tim Cook.

To some extent, the MacBook Neo precisely hits the current consumer sentiment: people are eager to embrace the work style of the AI era but don't want to pay for excessive performance. The mediocre performance of the MacBook Neo becomes tolerable in the face of its price. It provides an "affordable" ticket to the Apple ecosystem and AI applications, successfully attracting many users who originally used Windows computers and tablets.

Tim Cook excitedly said that the MacBook Neo set the best first - week sales record in Apple's history for first - time buyers.

Even the market's excessive enthusiasm caught Apple off guard.

According to sources, Apple's sales forecast for the MacBook Neo was relatively conservative, with only 5 - 6 million A18 Pro chips planned for inventory. However, the global orders in the first week exceeded 1.2 million units, three times the first - week sales of the previous - generation Air. It's only a matter of time before the inventory of chips runs out.

What's more tricky is that once this batch of "free inventory" is exhausted, if Apple wants to order new A18 Pro chips from TSMC, the cost will be completely different, as TSMC's N3E process is almost saturated at present.

For a long time, Apple has been used to having absolute control over its upstream supply chain and the highly - tense "zero - inventory" management model, believing it to be the optimal solution for improving capital efficiency. However, when shortages occur in all links simultaneously, this seemingly efficient supply chain becomes the most vulnerable link.

The MacBook Neo features an integrated aluminum alloy body design. However, the international aluminum price has skyrocketed recently. Driven by the AI boom, the global storage chip production capacity is increasingly tilted towards the server field. The contract price of mobile LPDDR5X DRAM has soared by 130% month - on - month, and the price of NAND flash memory has increased by 85% - 90%. The profit margin of the product has shrunk significantly, and the tight production capacity has forced the delivery cycle to be extended.

Apple is left with three options: raise the price, cut the low - end version, or keep selling at the current price regardless.

According to media reports, cash - rich Apple adopted an aggressive strategy that most enterprises can't afford - sacrificing profit margins to buy memory at high prices.

According to sources, Apple locked in a large - scale global mobile DRAM order at a 30% - 50% premium over the market price, securing 60% of the global mobile DRAM available spot goods from the second to the fourth quarter of 2026. When a Samsung representative proposed a tentative doubling of the DRAM price, Apple readily agreed on the spot, determined to stabilize the core supply. At the same time, Apple also increased its procurement from SK Hynix and Kioxia, competing for Micron's limited mobile storage production capacity.

For Apple, although the proactive approach has increased costs and compressed the gross profit margin in the short term, it has successfully ensured the production capacity supply of popular models, maintained its advantage in the terminal entrance in the AI era, and kept the pricing power of the supply chain in its own hands, raising the procurement threshold for competitors.

An industry reshuffle triggered by the memory price increase is accelerating. Whether Apple's expensive deal is worth it will be answered by time.

But it's certain that Apple's actions will make PC manufacturers and the Android camp very uncomfortable.

01

As storage chips become strategic materials in the AI era, HBM production capacity is preferentially allocated to computing power customers such as NVIDIA. Consumer electronics manufacturers can only compete for the remaining production capacity. Apple can still afford to spend a lot of money, but many enterprises have to raise prices to transfer costs.

The narrative of "global division of labor" in the global chip industry chain is collapsing.

In the past two decades, the semiconductor industry has established a nearly perfect global division - of - labor system: the United States is responsible for design and equipment, Taiwan, China dominates advanced - process foundry, South Korea controls storage chips, Japan masters materials and chemicals, and the Chinese mainland undertakes packaging and testing.

The core logic of this system is efficiency - first. Each link is placed in the place with the greatest cost advantage, and finally comes together to form a mobile phone or a computer.

The changing geopolitical situation is reshaping the industrial map of storage chips in the most brutal way. Helium plays an irreplaceable role in chip manufacturing: it is both a protective gas in etching and deposition processes and a cooling medium on the back of the wafer, and there is currently no substitute. More than 30% of the world's helium supply comes from the by - products of liquefied natural gas in Qatar. Qatar Gas has issued an alert, predicting a 14% reduction in annual helium exports.

In February, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo threatened that storage chips not produced in the United States might face a 100% tariff. More than 70% of the world's storage chip production capacity is concentrated in Samsung and SK Hynix of South Korea, while Micron is the only major player in the United States.

Even though the United States and South Korea are allies on the surface, this kind of dependence is regarded by the White House as an unacceptable structural vulnerability.

TSMC has increased its investment in Arizona from $12 billion to over $165 billion, despite founder Morris Chang repeatedly warning that the manufacturing cost in the United States is 50% higher than that in Taiwan, China. It is reported that TSMC's plan to build at least five wafer fabs in the United States is a key bargaining chip in the tariff negotiations between Taiwan, China and the United States.

The situation of Samsung and SK Hynix is more delicate. The deterrence of the US tariff stick is forcing them to re - evaluate: either build factories in the United States and bear the high "localization" costs, or watch Micron seize market share with the help of policy support.

Samsung co - CEO Kwon Oh - hyun announced at the shareholders' meeting that the company will promote long - term supply contracts for three to five years, trying to hedge against uncertainties by locking in customers. But the question is, when customers are also affected by the geopolitical situation, how much binding force do these contracts have?

Even Apple can't openly go against US laws and policies.

To increase the supply ratio of DRAM from the United States, Micron is simultaneously building wafer fabs and packaging plants in three US states. At the same time, Micron's layout in Asia has not shrunk. In March, it spent $1.8 billion to acquire Powerchip's Tongluo P5 plant. A new plant worth 15 trillion yen in Hiroshima, Japan, has entered the development stage, and a packaging and testing base in Gujarat, India, has also been officially put into operation.

Facing the increasing uncertainty of global division of labor, a supply - chain restructuring starting from "self - protection" is quietly underway. Every enterprise is shouting about "supply - chain resilience", but the cost of resilience is never cheap.

Samsung's capital expenditure in 2026 has climbed to 1,100 trillion won (about $73.3 billion), a year - on - year increase of 21.7%. Micron's capital expenditure has also exceeded $25 billion. A significant part of these astronomical figures is not used for technological upgrading but for maintaining multiple supply chains and meeting compliance requirements in different markets.

To some extent, all the giants are paying the price for their once "extreme efficiency".

02

The price - increase wave is a huge impact on downstream terminal manufacturers of mobile phones, PCs, etc. in the Chinese industrial chain.

Actually, since 2025, the price - increase storm of electronic components has spread from storage chips to memory, solid - state drives, graphics cards, and CPUs, rising one after another. PC manufacturers with thin profit margins have to raise prices. Since May 2025, Lenovo has continuously adjusted the prices of its products. The prices of its main models have increased by 800 - 1,000 yuan, and the prices of some high - end models have increased by more than 1,000 yuan. The price adjustment range of all - series laptops including gaming laptops under ASUS is 15% - 25%. The price adjustment range of some Acer models has also reached 10% - 20%.

Although the price of DDR5 memory has dropped significantly recently, with a maximum reduction of $100 per set, it has only brought a brief respite to the over - heated market. However, this price cut only covers a few suppliers and is only a partial adjustment in the DDR5 memory market, failing to reverse the overall price - increase trend of the hardware industry.

In the mobile - phone field, from the fourth quarter of 2025 to around March this year, Android - camp mobile - phone manufacturers have carried out concentrated price adjustments. Mainstream brands including Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, Honor, OnePlus, and Samsung have raised the recommended retail prices of some on - sale or newly - launched models.

Among them, the prices of mid - and low - end models have generally increased by 200 - 500 yuan, and the prices of some models have increased by 10% - 30%. The price increase of high - end flagship models is even higher, and the prices of some foldable or top - end models have increased by more than 1,000 yuan.

Only Huawei and Apple, with their strong supply - chain control and higher profit margins, have not followed this round of general price adjustments for their officially on - sale models. In fact, Apple has even lowered the price of its iPhone Air.

In the first quarter of 2026, the overall price - increase trend of components has not slowed down. According to data from TrendForce, the price increase of consumer - electronics storage in the first quarter of 2026 far exceeded market expectations, with a month - on - month increase of more than 60% compared with the fourth quarter of 2025, and the month - on - month increase of NAND flash memory has even exceeded 70%.

The war in the Middle East has also increased the pressure of price increases. This war has not only hit Ras Laffan Industrial City, which supplies 30% of the world's semiconductor - grade helium, but also blocked the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, hindering the transportation of crude oil, which is essential for global logistics, and causing the price to skyrocket. In reality, even if the conflict stops immediately, it will take several months for the supply chain to return to normal, resulting in a shortage of overall material production capacity.

As the core components of mobile - phone costs, the prices of storage chips (DRAM and NAND flash memory) have soared since the fourth quarter of 2025. Data shows that for the 8GB + 256GB configuration, the estimated contract price in the first quarter of 2026 has increased by nearly 200% compared with the same period in 2025, and the cost of some chip models has increased by more than 80%, even more than doubling.

Originally, mid - and low - end models were the key to the Android camp's sales volume. Although the profit margins were thin, the total profit could be increased through high sales volume. However, the price increase of components has had the greatest impact on mid - and low - end models with thin profit margins. Some budget phones have even fallen into a "negative gross - margin" state, increasing the profit - making pressure on mobile - phone manufacturers.

Apple already has a very high profit margin and can cut prices to seize the market. However, Android manufacturers with low profit margins have to raise prices to absorb the costs, which naturally affects sales volume.

In the global smartphone market in the first quarter of 2026, there was a rare "polarized" situation: the iPhone's shipment volume increased by 23% - 26% year - on - year, and with a market share of 18.7% - 19.3%, it surpassed Samsung for the first time in 14 years to briefly top the global list. In contrast, the Android camp is facing a severe situation of an estimated 15% decline in annual shipment volume.

In addition to the iPhone 17 Pro Max leading the high - end market, the "more features, same price" strategy of the standard iPhone 17 is actually a disguised price cut, which has been very successful in the mid - end market, achieving a 31% growth rate. As a result, Apple's revenue in Greater China has soared by 38% year - on - year, making it the only mainstream manufacturer to achieve positive net growth.

On one hand, the Android camp is facing soaring storage - chip prices and increased costs. On the other hand, its market share is being eroded by the iPhone due to price increases, forming a vicious cycle of "cost increase - price increase - sales decline".

What's more serious is that Apple, with its cash reserves and scale advantages, has obtained preferential supply from suppliers during the memory price - increase cycle. It has even locked in production capacity by buying at twice the price, forming a supply - chain stranglehold on the Android camp. The Android camp either has to follow the price increase or face a shortage of chips.

Although the Android camp still occupies 70% of the market share, its profits are meager. The memory crisis has become the last straw that breaks the Android camp's back.

This spring is one of the most difficult springs for the PC and Android camps.

03

However, the price increase also has beneficiaries. It has opened a rare window period for domestic chip manufacturers in the upstream of the industrial chain. International giants are concentrating their production capacity on high - profit products such as HBM, allowing Chinese manufacturers to fill the gap in mature - process production.

According to media reports, Apple is evaluating the introduction of two Chinese storage manufacturers, YMTC and CXMT. It plans to install YMTC's NAND flash memory chips in iPhone models sold in the Chinese market. It should be emphasized that the US Pentagon previously removed YMTC and CXMT from the 1260H clause list, which makes it possible for Apple to consider these two companies.

The technical foundation of the two companies is the strong support for this opportunity.

YMTC's Xtacking 4.0 architecture has mass - produced 294 - layer 3D NAND flash memory. Third - party evaluations believe that its area efficiency is approaching the level of the world's leading NAND manufacturers. In 2025, Samsung Electronics officially signed a cross - licensing agreement for 3D NAND "hybrid bonding" patents with YMTC. CXMT has also performed well in the DRAM field. By acquiring the core patents of Qimonda in Germany, it has laid a research and development foundation. Its self - developed DUV process has achieved stable mass production, and it has become the world's fourth - largest DRAM supplier.

For YMTC and CXMT, the direct benefits of entering the "Apple supply chain" are easy to calculate.

The annual shipment volume of iPhones in the Chinese market exceeds 10 million units. Even if they only get a small share, it can bring a considerable and stable revenue. More importantly, Apple's supply - chain access threshold is recognized as the strictest in the world, covering hundreds of indicators such as technical performance, yield consistency, and compliance system. Apple's adoption means that the products of the two companies are "standard products" that can compete with leading companies, which is equivalent to getting a "technical passport" for global access, and is very persuasive for subsequent expansion to other overseas customers.

Behind the excitement, cold thinking is also necessary.

Apple firmly holds the bargaining power. It is reported that when Apple introduces new suppliers, it usually requires the quotation to be 10% - 15% lower than that of existing suppliers. For the two companies whose yields are still climbing, the actual profit may be quite thin. In addition, Apple is very good at making suppliers and competitors check and balance each other.

When new market opportunities emerge, such as the sudden surge in HBM demand for domestic AI servers, the two companies may also face the embarrassing situation of "occupied production capacity and being unable to handle multiple tasks".

In an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment, the frequent changes in US policies have become the norm. Every change in the policy direction of the Trump administration may interrupt the cooperation rhythm. In the current environment, no one can guarantee how far the cooperation will ultimately go.

In the past, the main narrative of domestic chips was "affordable substitution", using policies to gain space. The super - cycle brought by AI is rewriting the industry pattern. To go further and more steadily, facing global competition is an inevitable path that cannot be skipped.

There are no miracles in the chip industry. Opportunities and bubbles coexist