Apple Increases Prices of Popular Products Due to Chip Shortage

Kathmandu. With the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and the shortage of memory and storage chips, American technology company Apple has increased the prices of its popular products.

The company has increased the price of the entry-level MacBook Neo from 599 US dollars to 699 dollars with immediate effect. Similarly, the price of the cheapest iPad has been increased from 349 dollars to 449 dollars, and the price of the iPad Mini from 499 dollars to 599 dollars.

In addition, the price of Apple TV has been increased from 129 dollars to 199 dollars, the price of the Apple Vision Pro headset from 3,499 dollars to 3,699 dollars, and the price of the HomePod speaker from 299 dollars to 349 dollars. The increased prices have been implemented from Thursday on Apple's official online store. However, some third-party sellers are still listing products at the old prices.

In a statement issued by the company, it stated that the rapid expansion of AI data centers has led to an extraordinary increase in the demand for memory and storage chips, causing an unexpected rise in chip prices. According to Apple, there was no alternative but to increase the prices of some products, including MacBooks and iPads, and the prices have been adjusted accordingly. The company also stated that efforts are underway to find alternative solutions to minimize the impact on customers.

Following the announcement of the price increase, Apple's share price fell by 6.1 percent on Thursday. This is the largest daily decline in more than a year. Earlier, the company's Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook had also stated that price increases were unavoidable due to the shortage of memory chips. It has been analyzed that the entire consumer electronics industry is being affected by the rapid expansion of AI data centers worldwide, leading to an increase in both the demand and price of memory chips.