Tech Analyst Paul Meeks Has A Warning for Apple in the Face of Its Biggest Launch Ever

Veteran tech analyst Paul Meeks of Freedom Capital Markets has issued a warning regarding Apple Inc. ahead of its anticipated foldable iPhone unveiling. Meeks highlighted that an entrenched supplier oligopoly among major memory chipmakers—Micron Technology, SK Hynix, and Samsung, who collectively control around 90% of the market—is driving up component costs. This surge in memory pricing threatens to compress Apple's gross margins, potentially offsetting excitement from the launch. Former CEO Tim Cook previously described the semiconductor environment as a '100-year flood' of rising memory prices that forced Apple to increase hardware prices and warned of ongoing supply constraints. Apple's September-quarter gross margin guidance was set at 47% to 48%, reflecting growing cost pressures across iPhones, Macs, and iPads. While Apple recently reported strong June-quarter revenue of $109.42 billion and earnings per share of $2.02, Meeks expects the memory pricing squeeze to persist for years. Consequently, capital may increasingly favor memory producers and AI infrastructure suppliers over consumer hardware manufacturers facing margin headwinds.