Apple is reportedly employing an aggressive procurement strategy to secure a dominant position in the global mobile DRAM market, according to Ubergizmo.
By leveraging its vast financial reserves, the tech giant is allegedly purchasing all available memory chip supply at premium prices. Ubergizmo says the move “appears aimed at stabilizing its own production while simultaneously limiting the resources available to its primary competitors during a period of significant supply constraints.
The article adds that “this aggressive pricing positions Apple to capture a significant portion of the mid-range laptop market, which represents an estimated $30 billion opportunity with an annual volume of 50 million units”
It’s easy to see why Apple is being aggressive.Memory prices are likely to 20% or more this year, according to Counterpoint Research’s Memory Solutions for GenAI report.
One of the key issues is legacy LPDDR4 supply tightness brought on by suppliers shifting output to more advanced chips to service AI demand, which is distorting markets. Spot price imbalances are occurring, with DDR5 for servers and PCs trading at around $1.50 per gigabit, while older DDR4 used in consumer electronics fetches $2.10 – higher than that of even advanced HBM3e, which is hovering around $1.70.
Counterpoint forecasts DRAM production increases exceeding 20% in 2026 across all key chipmakers. Research Director MS Hwang said, “Samsung may reallocate its expanding 1C process, SK hynix is pushing production and raising sales targets, CXMT may surprise on the upside and Micron, typically disciplined on ROI, is unlikely to hold back.
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