TrendForce’s latest smartphone industry research reveals that escalating component costs—led by memory—are expected to significantly raise production expenses for Apple’s next iPhone 18 series. For the 256 GB model, the BOM cost is estimated to increase by about 38% YoY, making higher retail prices unavoidable. Apple may offset some of these costs by reducing gross margins to prevent weakening consumer demand, aiming to keep prices manageable, maintain shipment volumes, and grow market share.
Apple's decision to raise prices across the entire MacBook lineup has reshaped market expectations, according to TrendForce’s latest notebook market research. Even premium brands are now being forced to pass part of their rising costs on to consumers, reinforcing expectations of higher notebook prices and making consumers more cautious about upgrading their devices.
TrendForce's latest AMOLED technology and market report reveals that Apple plans to gradually adopt OLED panels capable of achieving 95% coverage of the BT.2020 color gamut across future MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and iMac product lines.
TrendForce’s latest figures reveal that global smartphone production reached around 284 million units in the first quarter of 2026, marking a 1.7% YoY decline. Despite a sharp rise in memory prices since the second half of 2025, the effect on production was minimal because brands still held inventories of cheaper memory components. Additionally, consumer expectations of higher prices in the future have helped sustain short-term demand, cushioning the impact of rising memory costs on production during the quarter.
TrendForce’s latest research reveals that the current AI notebook market is primarily driven by Intel, AMD, Apple, and Qualcomm. However, as it stands, the industry still lacks products capable of fully demonstrating the value of on-device AI computing at scale and creating compelling upgrade incentives for consumers.
