Apple Loses Rp 4,482 Trillion in Market Value Due to This Unexpected Factor

Apple shares plunged more than 5% on Thursday (25/6/2026) after the company announced sweeping price increases for its MacBook and iPad lines globally. Apple attributed the price surge to an unprecedented shortage of memory and storage chips, triggered by an explosion in artificial intelligence (AI) demand. The price increases took effect on Apple’s online store on Thursday and cover the MacBook Neo, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iPad Air, and iPad Pro. Apple decided not to raise iPhone prices. The Apple online store was temporarily inaccessible on Thursday morning before being updated with the new price list. Following the announcement, Apple shares closed down approximately 5.3%, wiping roughly US$275 billion (around Rp 4,482 trillion) from the company’s market capitalisation. The decline brings Apple closer to Alphabet in the global market capitalisation race. Before Thursday’s trading, Nvidia remained the world’s most valuable company at around US$5.4 trillion, followed by Apple and Microsoft. However, Alphabet has been trading places with Apple for the second spot in recent weeks. In detail, the starting price of the MacBook Neo rose to US$699 from US$599. The MacBook Air is now priced from US$1,299, up from US$1,099, while the 14-inch MacBook Pro increased to US$1,999 from US$1,699. In the tablet line, the 11-inch iPad Pro price rose to US$1,199 from US$999. Meanwhile, the iPad Air now starts at US$749, up from US$599. Apple acknowledged that component price increases are occurring far faster than the company has ever experienced. ‘We have never seen component price increases of this magnitude and speed. We have long shielded our customers from these increases, but we have now reached a point where we need to start raising prices on a number of products, including the iPad and Mac price increases announced today,’ an Apple spokesperson said. ‘We know this is not the news people were hoping for, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions,’ the spokesperson added. Signals of the price hike were actually conveyed by Apple CEO Tim Cook last week. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Cook said price increases had become ‘inevitable’ due to soaring component costs. ‘There is less and less supply just as consumers want more devices, and memory manufacturers are passing on very large price increases,’ Cook said. Cook previously described the crisis as a once-in-a-hundred-years flood, a situation he had not witnessed in more than four decades in the technology industry. The root of the problem stems from a global shortage of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, a key component used in nearly all modern electronic devices. According to research firm TrendForce, conventional DRAM contract prices surged by 90%-95% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2026. In the current quarter, prices are still expected to rise by 58%-63%. The surge, which some analysts have dubbed ‘RAMageddon’, was triggered by an explosion in AI data centre construction. Companies like Nvidia are signing long-term supply contracts with memory chip manufacturers, further limiting supply for the consumer electronics market. Micron even revealed it has secured long-term supply commitments worth US$22 billion. In its latest financial report, the company’s revenue soared more than fourfold to US$41.46 billion from US$9.3 billion in the same period last year, driven by demand for memory and storage products for AI. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley estimate the memory chip supply shortage will last until at least 2027, keeping memory prices high. Apple is not the only company passing on cost increases to consumers. Nintendo has announced a US$50 price increase for its flagship console starting in September. Sony and Microsoft have also recently raised prices for PlayStation and Xbox consoles. In the computer market, Lenovo, Dell, and HP have also increased prices for PCs, servers, and laptops. The MacBook Neo price increase also erases the price advantage Apple previously held over the Dell XPS 13. Dell’s latest laptop, launched this month, starts at US$699, exactly the same as the new MacBook Neo price. Previously, the MacBook Neo was US$100 cheaper since its launch last March. Despite the pressure on Apple’s stock, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives maintained an outperform recommendation with a US$400 share price target. He believes Apple’s premium customer base means the company will not lose many consumers despite raising prices. Market attention will next turn to the latest generation iPhone, scheduled to launch in September. Apple is also expected to introduce its first foldable iPhone model with a starting price above US$2,000.