Apple Is Losing Its Grip on Memory Suppliers, and iPhones Are Getting Pricier

Apple’s long hold over flash-memory suppliers is slipping as AI data centres gobble up the chips that store photos and apps on iPhones, The Wall Street Journal reported. That squeeze sits on top of a wider memory shortage chipmakers warn could keep phones and PCs expensive for Canadians for years.

Flash prices have roughly quintupled over the past year, according to TechInsights estimates. Apple is expected to spend about $25 billion US this year on flash storage for roughly the same volume it bought for about $6 billion US in 2025.

Two years ago Apple bought nearly twice as much flash as Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Google combined. Those hyperscalers now buy about double Apple’s share, and Meta, Microsoft and Amazon have locked in long-term deals with Japan’s Kioxia at higher prices that protect the supplier if the market turns.

Tim Cook, Apple’s executive chairman, has likened the memory-price surge to a “100-year flood.” Extra storage that once cost Apple about $15 US to add on an iPhone 17 Pro has risen to about $66 US, while buyers still paid $200 US for that upgrade, according to the Journal’s analysis. Flash that cost $68 US per gigabyte in 2005 had fallen to a nickel by 2023 before climbing above 30 cents.

TechInsights analyst Walt Coon noted that Apple has a long history of pushing memory suppliers hard on price, and those suppliers are now happy to have the upper hand for a change.

Apple’s former procurement head Tony Blevins, who left in 2022, sometimes booked rival suppliers back to back so their sales teams would bump into each other, according to the report. Negotiators also packed nutrition bars for sessions that Apple executives pushed past midnight without a dinner break.

Flash makers also had to treat Apple as a most favoured customer and open their books for audits so often that Blevins negotiated a volume discount with Deloitte. Those checks showed factory output and how badly a supplier needed a large order.

“We’ve worked with many of our suppliers for decades, and we deeply value their partnership over the years,” Apple said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our important work together.” The company has already lifted prices across much of its lineup, including an average 13 per cent rise on iPhones in the U.S., covering older models that usually get a cut.

Canadians have felt the same pressure. The iPhone 18 Pro started $150 CAD higher than last year, and Apple later cut Pro component orders after demand cooled. Micron has separately warned that RAM shortages could stretch beyond 2028. The new iPhone Duo? It starts at $2,999 CAD for 256GB of storage and goes even higher.

For flash makers, the open question is how long the new leverage lasts. For shoppers, it is whether higher phone and laptop prices keep stretching upgrade cycles.

Would another storage-driven price bump keep you on your current iPhone longer?