The escalating part prices—led by reminiscence—are anticipated to considerably elevate manufacturing bills for Apple’s subsequent iPhone 18 sequence, in accordance with TrendForce. For the 256 GB mannequin, the BOM value is estimated to extend by about 38% YoY, making increased retail costs unavoidable. Apple might offset a few of these prices by lowering gross margins to stop weakening client demand, aiming to maintain costs manageable, preserve cargo volumes, and develop market share.
An evaluation of the 256 GB iPhone Professional fashions over the previous two generations exhibits that reminiscence’s share of complete BOM value has risen dramatically—from round 10% a 12 months in the past to roughly 34% in 3Q26, and is predicted to exceed 40% in 1H27. This marks a elementary shift, the place the appliance processor (AP) and show have been as soon as the dominant value drivers.
Pushed by hovering reminiscence costs, TrendForce estimates that the BOM value of the 256 GB iPhone 18 Professional, scheduled for launch within the third quarter of 2026, will probably be roughly 38% increased than that of its 2025 predecessor. If reminiscence costs proceed their upward trajectory, the BOM value of the iPhone 18 Professional 256 GB is predicted to extend even additional in 2027.
TrendForce believes Apple is more likely to observe the pricing technique adopted for its latest MacBook launches by sacrificing a part of its gross margin to melt worth will increase for the iPhone 18 lineup, serving to protect cargo quantity. The corporate may additionally revisit its pricing technique for older iPhone fashions, doubtlessly elevating their costs alongside the launch of the brand new era to partially offset rising reminiscence prices.
If even Apple—with its industry-leading profitability—is dealing with such stress, Android smartphone distributors are more likely to expertise a good larger margin squeeze. Android manufacturers might want to go via a bigger portion of rising part prices to stay worthwhile and keep away from promoting gadgets at a loss, leading to steeper retail worth will increase than these anticipated for the iPhone.
The pressures will probably be notably acute within the entry-level and mid-range segments, the place already-thin margins depart little room to soak up increased prices. With reminiscence costs having risen five- to sevenfold because the starting of 2025, many manufacturers might haven’t any alternative however to implement substantial worth will increase or discontinue product strains which have slipped into damaging gross margins.
TrendForce due to this fact expects international smartphone manufacturing to stay underneath downward stress from 2H26 via 2027, as persistently rising reminiscence prices proceed to weigh on market demand. TrendForce
