It is predicted that due to the sharp rise in the price of TSMC chips, Apple will have to raise the price of the iPhone 14.
A few days ago, a report was published indicating a sharp rise in the price of TSMC chips, which showed that the semiconductor industry giant intends to increase the price of its chips by up to 20%. The report claimed that customers, including Apple, were aware of the price increase, and a new report showed that changes had been made by TSMC.
TSMC has gradually increased its chip production costs since the fourth quarter of last year due to the global semiconductor crisis and shortage, and this is said to be one of the company’s biggest changes. The director of one of the chip design companies says about this:
We are all in a state of shock, and all of our client managers need to talk to their clients to see if we can renegotiate some of the contracts. We have not seen such a large price increase by TSMC in the last decade.
increase the price of iPhone 14 models
According to the initial report, the price increase includes a 10 percent increase in 7-nanometer chips and smaller processes, and for chips made with 16-nanometer nodes and older, costs increase by as much as 20 percent. Customers can negotiate with TSMC before the price change date is October 1; But price increases are likely to be inevitable; Because even if the contract is canceled, there is no suitable alternative to TSMC. In fact, Samsung is the only competitor to the Taiwanese company that is struggling with production problems.
The report states that price changes will not affect existing orders and customers will not increase prices on their products until 2022; Therefore, it is likely that the price of the iPhone 13 series will not be affected by these increases; But it is expected that Apple will increase the price of its smartphones next year with the possible name of iPhone 14.
Of course, the iPhone 14 series can be more expensive than current models and increase the price of the chip even more. If we consider the iPhone 2021 as the Model S, the iPhone 2022 will be the next major version, and Apple is expected to make major changes to the design of this phone. IPhones will no longer be cut, and instead Apple may use a hole to hide the selfie camera and existing sensors, which is now used in some Android devices, including Samsung smartphones. It is also possible that the face sensors will be moved below the display or integrated with the small top edge of the device.
According to Mingchi Ko, an analyst familiar with Apple products, the iPhone 14 series is one of the most dramatic design changes in recent years, and the Cupertino-based company is likely to replace the notch. Koo believes the new design will likely be available on Peruvian models, and may mean that standard versions will continue to use the same notch-based design; As a result, Apple will no longer need to display display technology to differentiate Pro models, and will be able to equip all four models with the same display with LTPO technology and support for 120Hz refresh rate.
On the other hand, the tech giant is expected to stop producing the iPhone Mini and replace it with a larger 6.7-inch iPhone. The 6.7-inch model will probably be much more expensive than the mini model due to its larger dimensions, and the increase in chip price will make not only this phone, but all the iPhone 14 models much more expensive than the current models or even the iPhone 13.
Rising prices by TSMC may be a way to avoid double bookings; A technique in which customers increase the order of more chips and the chance of timely delivery in a very busy period. According to some anonymous sources, the increasing production of reserved products, often by Apple, has made it very difficult for TSMC to estimate real demand; But given Apple’s very close relationship with TSMC in the production of all its chips, it seems unlikely that it will move to another manufacturer.
