An artificial intelligence boom is challenging Apple's long-standing dominance in the global technology supply chain.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook has indicated in an interview that due to a significant surge in component costs, particularly for memory and storage chips, the company plans to increase the prices of its hardware products. Cook did not specify the exact timing or scale of these price adjustments. Apple is expected to hold its annual hardware launch event in September, where it will introduce a new generation of iPhones, including a foldable model.

Cook also stated that Apple is prepared to leverage its substantial cash reserves to help boost the market supply of memory chips. While he did not provide further details, he explicitly stated that the company will not build its own component manufacturing facilities.

The root cause of this widespread chip shortage across the tech industry lies in the explosive growth of the artificial intelligence sector. Leading AI companies are investing hundreds of billions of dollars annually to expand data centers, deploying a vast number of high-memory computing servers. During its last earnings call, Apple noted that insufficient chip supply has already constrained business growth for product lines like the iPhone and Mac.

For many years, Apple commanded significant influence over the electronics supply chain and secured the lion's share of industry chip capacity, thanks to its massive iPhone shipment volumes. However, the rise of the AI industry has weakened Apple's bargaining power within the supply chain. For instance, this year, NVIDIA surpassed Apple to become the largest customer for advanced-process chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. In this new industry landscape, Apple is facing considerable operational pressure.