Apple Now Stockpiling More Components Amid Rising Prices

[MacRumors]

In response to rising component prices, Apple has extended how long it holds OLED display panels in reserve, according to a report from ETNews, citing industry sources in South Korea.

Apple apparently moved from a four-week display supply buffer to six weeks starting in the second quarter of 2026. The move is unusual since Apple has long treated inventory as a cost to be minimized rather than built up, operating one of the leanest supply chains in the industry.

Deliberately stockpiling more panels for longer marks a noticeable shift in that approach, reportedly driven by a sharp rise in memory chip prices that's rippling out to other components. Buying more panels upfront, especially during quieter periods of sales cycle, will help the company stabilize prices.

Apple already raised prices on 14 products, including all Macs and iPads, in June. The iPhone 18 Pro is widely expected to see a price hike when it launches next month.

Samsung Display and LG Display remain Apple's primary iPhone OLED suppliers, with BOE supplying a much smaller share out of China. A display industry official told ETNews the longer holding period is likely to stick, and expects it to stretch further once the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max launch.

Article Link: Apple Now Stockpiling More Components Amid Rising Prices

 

[now i see it]

Component manufacturers aren’t morons. They’ll just raise their prices for hoarding customers.

 

[Crzyrio]

Component manufacturers aren’t morons. They’ll just raise their prices for hoarding customers.

No. That is backwards.

They will give discounts and take their money now because there is no guarantee next month.

 

[ricketysquire]

Maybe this will finally be the end of Just-In-Time supply management. It sounds great academically, but it's terrible in the real world.

 

[Arran]

No. That is backwards.

They will give discounts and take their money now because there is no guarantee next month.

Yep. Instead of Apple ordering 'n' iPhone panels per month (which is all Apple's own production lines can consume) they'll take 2n, 3n or xn, get a discount for bulk ordering and warehouse the rest.

Of course, what that does to the panel's supplier's short-term production capacity will be interesting. If they're locked into manufacturing a load of iPhone panels for Apple, that manufacturing capacity won't be available for iPhone competitors.

 

[Arran]

Maybe this will finally be the end of Just-In-Time supply management. It sounds great academically, but it's terrible in the real world.

Indeed. Lean is out and fat is back! (because a bit of healthy fat will get you through a famine)

 

[Mousse]

No. That is backwards.

They will give discounts and take their money now because there is no guarantee next month.

A discount? When there is a shortage? Old anecdote:

An old salesman was teaching the new kid the ropes. He asked the newbie, "What is the idea number of bottled water to have if you have 5 thirsty customers?" The new guy said, "Oh that's easy. Five." The old timer retorted, "Wrong. Four water bottles is the ideal. You can name your price when there is shortage."

 

[NightFox]

I can't help wondering how much Apple stockpiling is actually going to worsen those rising prices for everyone else.

 

[Lumenorbit69]

Stockpile components/ram by scraping the AVP 2 and the iPhone Air 2.

 

[svish]

Looks like prices of devices will further increase. Hopefully Apple does not do it immediately.

 

[iMac The Knife]

I can't wait for the RAM shortage to disappear, only to watch prices never go back down anywhere close to pre-RAMaggedon levels. It blows my mind that we, as consumers, are being completely fleeced across the board these days, and yet people just continue handing their credit cards to these greedy pigs.

 

[satchmo]

I’ll be stockpiling my savings and hold off buying any new iPhone for many years to come.

Hopefully things will return to normal by then, but wouldn’t be surprised if prices never come back down.

 

[triumvirate]

I can't wait for the RAM shortage to disappear, only to watch prices never go back down anywhere close to pre-RAMaggedon levels. It blows my mind that we, as consumers, are being completely fleeced across the board these days, and yet people just continue handing their credit cards to these greedy pigs.

It’s the Uber / drug dealer playbook. Get people hooked on using these “smart” devices and make them all but functional requirements for a modern workplace & general lifestyle — baby you can jack that price up to whatever you want and now they have to pay!

People used to make fun of those who refused getting smart-devices … now who is winning and who is truly losing?

 

[vantelimus]

Maybe this will finally be the end of Just-In-Time supply management. It sounds great academically, but it's terrible in the real world.

It isn't horrible in every case. It trades inventory and carrying costs for the risk associated with changes in supply. Clearly, that can be a bad tradeoff when producing a critical product for which a shortage can result in hazard or death. But it isn’t clearly bad for non-essential products.

What is arguable in this case is whether Apple maintaining larger inventories would significantly change the relevant market dynamics. They might be able to ride out short supply disruptions, but they aren’t going to keep months or years of parts on hand to weather a long disruption or sustained price increase in the supply of OLED panels or memory.

Furthermore, having a surplus doesn't mean they would charge less for their products merely because they had a warehouse full of parts bought at a lower price. They set their prices for their products according to the current market, competitive conditions, and their pricing strategy. A larger inventory might protect Apple’s margins, but there is no reason to assume that any savings would be passed on to consumers.

Apple keeping 4 to 6 weeks of inventory suggests they are happier to accept the risks associated with supply volatility than the risk of keeping a large inventory of parts that could become obsolete in a fast moving tech industry.

 

[1ppl3]

All of this Corpo capitalism, bummers shareholders, AI psychosis - all of this the end of rational and logical world!!!

Rich ppl gives money to others rich ppl and repeating it in a circle. And in the end ofthis, rich morrons wanna be profitable from the regular end user… absolute end of the end….

And when they understood how negatively ppl looks on all of those BS - now they are Claiming be the “government instrument”, another words they wanna secure their SCUM by option TO BIG TO FAIL, companies… Same way as government did with Intel…. Im so tired of all those BS….

 

[Corefile]

What happened to JIT? A real beancounter like Tim Cook as Apple CEO wouldn't let inventory pile up in warehouses as it has to be written off when the AI bubble makes a sticky mess.

 

[I7guy]

Component manufacturers aren’t morons. They’ll just raise their prices for hoarding customers.

And when the shortage ends these component manufacturers might find themselves without customers.

 

[maxoakland]

People used to make fun of those who refused getting smart-devices … now who is winning and who is truly losing?

Indeed. Life might actually be easier and more convenient without the ease and convenience of smartphones

 

[Flight Plan]

Maybe this will finally be the end of Just-In-Time supply management. It sounds great academically, but it's terrible in the real world.

As in most things in life, it's usually best to find the optimal middle. JIT will not go away no matter how much you hate it. But having SOME kind of a buffer is helpful too.

Indeed. Lean is out and fat is back! (because a bit of healthy fat will get you through a famine)

Truth.

I can't help wondering how much Apple stockpiling is actually going to worsen those rising prices for everyone else.

At first, maybe. But at some point, Apple will decide that their warehouses are "full enough". Remember, this is technology. You forecast and then you make what you forecasted. At some point, you'll have "the new version" of that thing, and you'll need to work off your stored supplies.

All of this Corpo capitalism, bummers shareholders, AI psychosis - all of this the end of rational and logical world!!!

Calm down, please.

Rich ppl gives money to others rich ppl and repeating it in a circle. And in the end ofthis, rich morrons wanna be profitable from the regular end user… absolute end of the end….

Again, calm down. This is the end of nothing. And learn how to spell the word "people".

And when they understood how negatively ppl looks on all of those BS - now they are Claiming be the “government instrument”, another words they wanna secure their SCUM by option TO BIG TO FAIL, companies… Same way as government did with Intel…. Im so tired of all those BS….

None of this makes any logical sense, and I really tried; honest! I recommend only ONE cup of coffee in the morning. And not espresso, either. Less caffeine, for sure.

 

[dampfnudel]

Maybe this will finally be the end of Just-In-Time supply management. It sounds great academically, but it's terrible in the real world.

If conditions are right, it works well. Hopefully conditions return to normal or close to it by the end of this decade if not sooner.

 

[expensiveram]

Component manufacturers aren’t morons. They’ll just raise their prices for hoarding customers.

There is a big upgrade cycle happening right now. At the moment people think it’s all about servers because they are distracted.

Over the course of the next year very few people will want a laptop with dedicated GPU memory anymore. They will want unified memory for AI tasks and that makes their computers better for gaming too. AMD and Nvidia are doing the same thing Apple did 6 years ago.

So a very big upgrade cycle is coming and that means every component from memory to screens will come under demand pressure.

This is like the upgrade cycles we saw in the mid 90s when the Pentium and G3 came out and in the mid 2000s when the multi core CPUs became mainstream. It’s going to be big. Mac and PC laptops could have 512GB of unified memory in 5 years and you will be able to do some crazy stuff on there in everything from science to media to gaming.