iPhone 18 Prices May Hold Steady Despite Rising Costs, Analyst Predicts

• Apple may keep iPhone 18 starting prices flat in 2026, despite increasing supply chain costs, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
• This strategy aims to maintain market demand and offers a marketing advantage, even with rising memory and A20 chip production costs.
• TSMC's high demand for advanced manufacturing due to AI growth is driving up chip production costs for Apple.
• Apple is expected to absorb these higher costs in the short term, rather than passing them to consumers, to secure supply and maintain market share.
• Long-term, Apple plans to offset potential margin impacts through its high-margin services business, which continues to grow.

Why It Matters: Apple may absorb rising production costs for iPhone 18 to keep prices stable, leveraging its services business.