Tim Cook says more memory suppliers may not necessarily mean lower product prices

During today’s conference call, Tim Cook addressed Apple’s mounting memory supply and pricing challenges, but suggested that adding more suppliers may not actually bring product prices back down. Here are the details.

’Unclear on the pricing side’

As Apple looks for options to mitigate the memory shortage that forced it to raise prices for several products, the company has been campaigning publicly and behind the scenes to secure US government approval to procure memory from the blocklisted Chinese suppliers CXMT and YMTC.

During today’s Q3 2026 earnings call, Tim Cook and Apple CFO Kevan Parekh were asked whether Apple’s push to diversify memory supply is “really about ensuring that you have supply and the way to mitigate memory inflation, or is it more to preserve the value proposition for your customer”.

After outlining the sharp increase in Apple’s memory costs over the past several quarters, Cook said that adding suppliers would help improve availability, but cautioned that it would not necessarily allow Apple to reverse its recent product price increases:

Primarily, the DRAM market has three suppliers, and obviously, if there were more suppliers, that would be good, and it would help us on the supply side, and perhaps the pricing side. It’s unclear on the pricing side. But it could help on the supply side. And so we’re evaluating all options.

Interestingly, Cook made a point of correcting himself after initially suggesting that additional suppliers might also help lower prices, perhaps to curb expectations.

It is worth noting that Apple reportedly plans to use memory from Chinese suppliers in devices sold outside the US. Still, the move would likely help it reserve components from its existing suppliers for products sold in the American market, improving both domestic and foreign device availability.

Be that as it may, Cook’s double-take on what additional suppliers would actually mean for Apple and its customers makes clear that the recent (and perhaps future) price hikes may not be as temporary as many customers were likely hoping.

For the breakdown of Apple’s Q3 2026 results, follow this link.

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