New reports indicate that Apple might be looking to offload the increase in expenses it will have to incur on the production of the new iPhones. The device might thus see a 3 to 5 per cent increase in their price points, vis-a-vis the iPhone 12 series.
Apple was previously expected to introduce the iPhone 13 series at a price point similar to or less than what was seen on the iPhone 12 series. Recent developments, however, indicate that the company might be reconsidering this, in lieu of the added expenses it may have to incur on the production of the new iPhones.
A new report suggests that Apple is looking to mitigate an expense that will possibly be added on to its iPhone 13 series’ production in the near future. The expense will be in the form of heightened cost for the chips used in these iPhones.
A report by DigiTimes, as spotted by Gadgets 360, sheds light on the development. As noted in the report, Apple’s leading chip supplier – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is planning to increase the costs of its chip production. The increased costs are expected to come into effect in January 2022.
As per the report, Apple, and other clients of TSMC might experience an increase of up to 20 per cent on the cost of chips sourced from the company. The report mentions that the company has already notified its customers about the price hike. TSMC is likely to bring the revised pricing into effect from January 2022. The new price will also reflect for the orders scheduled to be fulfilled starting December.
In order to minimise the effect of this price hike on its profits, Apple will reportedly launch the iPhone 13 series at a higher price than before. The extra cost would thus be passed on to the buyers of the next series of iPhones and not be borne by the company.
It is expected that this would result in an increase of iPhone 13 prices by 3 to 5 per cent. The iPhone 12 was launched in India last year at a starting price of Rs 79,990. Calculating for the upper end of the margin, the iPhone 13 might debut with a price tag of somewhere around Rs 85,000.
Since Apple is one of the biggest clients of TSMC, it is expected to face a major hike in the overall production costs for its next line of phones. The company might thus be counting on the better-than-ever-before market demand predicted for the new iPhones. A marginally heightened price point would thus not be a thing of concern for the company’s predicted sales volume.
