Apple may account for 25% of TSMC’s revenue, and although the company has recently been rumored to have been resisting wafer price increases, this does not mean that the company has sufficient bargaining power over chip price increases. The global economic landscape continues to witness shifts as it forces chipmakers to introduce price increases for various wafers, with one report claiming that TSMC’s customers will have to pay increases of up to 6 percent from next year onwards.
TSMC currently offers 8-inch and 12-inch chip wafers to its customers. According to the Economic Times, the price of 8-inch wafers is said to increase by 6 percent, while 12-inch ones could see a 3-5 percent increase, depending on the lithography technology. Apple will likely continue to negotiate aggressively with its chip partner, which generates a quarter of the company’s annual revenue, but it will eventually have to concede to TSMC’s demands.
The California-based giant reportedly rejected a price hike earlier, which could affect the launch schedule of Apple’s next generation of custom chips, such as the A17 Bionic chip for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra and the M3 for future Macs. a number of rumors claimed that the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max would launch with The price has gone up, but as we all know, the latest high-end models still start at $999.
Unfortunately, 2023 could be a different story for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra. As Apple is rumored to be introducing more exclusive upgrades to its top iPhone range next year to better differentiate between the lower-priced iPhone 15 models and the higher-priced models, thus improving its margins. On the other hand, Apple may charge its customers more due to TSMC’s rumored increase in chip prices. Whether Apple intends to absorb the costs of these wafer price increases on its own or whether it intends to pass on the costs to its customers, we will find out in the coming months.
