Apple 'iPhone 7' manufacturing demands causing tight RAM supply, increased pricing
Mike Wuerthele
Global DRAM prices are continuing to climb on the strength of orders for the "iPhone 7" and demands from competitive China-based manufacturers, causing a ripple effect across the entire computing industry.
"DRAM prices in August were on an upward trend as they were in the previous month," said channel monitor DRAMeXchange in a report. "With the official launch of the next iPhone release on September 7, the entire smartphone supply chain is now under a critical period of intense stock-up activities."
As a result of the ramp-up and demand applied to the supply chain by the "iPhone 7," major DRAM suppliers are making more of the mobile-specific RAM. As a side effect, less PC RAM is available, constraining supply, and increasing prices.
Prices across the board for mobile and desktop RAM are expected to keep climbing for the remainder of the year, according to the report.
Rumors peg 2GB of application RAM in the smaller "iPhone 7." However, the "iPhone 7 Plus" is anticipated to have 3GB of RAM, boosting demand for the commodity more than needed for the 2015 iPhone 6s family release.
Recent reports suggest that the fall 2016 "iPhone 7" expected to be revealed on Sept. 7 won't have a major exterior redesign, as there is "new technology in the pipeline" that is taking time to fully exploit. Parts and details leaked from manufacturing suggest that the design is nearly identical to that of the iPhone 6s, minus the headphone jack.
The 2015 iPad Pro 12.7-inch model is the only iOS device to exceed 2 GB of RAM at this time, with 4 GB installed. The iPhone 6s, 6s plus, and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro all have 2 GB of RAM.
William Gallagher
Andrew Orr
Mike Wuerthele and Malcolm Owen
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Charles Martin
19 Comments
But....
Isn't the number of deviced ordered for iPhone 7 going to be a lot less than for last years model?
If this actually is the case then I wonder if some 'entpreneurs' have been ordering RAM to drive the price that Apple pays up thus creating the shortage?
Or did they forget to place the order for RAM from Samsung?
I'm getting a 7 and a 7+ for my wife and I. Apple Watch, depends if they update the Hermès, and won't be until I get EVGA's Classified 1080 in SLI for my Windows tower (because as Oculus said, VR is expensive in computing power). But REALLY, what I care about is the MBP upgrade. Please get it out of the door, Apple. I beg of you ;)