Apple CEO Tim Cook warned of rising memory chip prices impacting profitability in the current quarter due to a shortage. Demand for iPhone 17 has surged, especially in China and India. Samsung and SK Hynix have also warned of worsening DRAM chip shortage, affecting margins and supply chains.

Chipmakers are diverting production towards high-bandwidth memory for AI servers, contributing to the DRAM chip shortage. Manufacturers are adjusting products and shipment plans to cope with surging memory chip prices. Research firms IDC and Counterpoint expect a decline in global smartphone and PC sales due to the shortage.

Samsung’s mobile business profit slumped 10% in the fourth quarter. The company is bracing for a challenging year in 2026 due to the chip shortage. SK Hynix is facing difficulties securing memory supplies, affecting PC and mobile customers. Samsung is prioritizing supplying server customers and increasing AI-related products.

Samsung and SK Hynix are focusing on AI memory chips to narrow their market share gap. HBM chips, used to build AI chipsets, are in high demand. Samsung plans to increase the portion of AI-related products, potentially leading to further constraints in conventional memory chip output.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Apple warns memory costs are starting to bite as Samsung, SK Hynix prioritise AI chips