At one point, it was feared that the Chinese prices of President Trump will lead to a significant price increase in the iPhone, the high -end models potentially cost $ 2,150. In fact, Apple won an exemption and we have not seen any price increases. Again.
In a financial report, which is also extremely positive on Thursday, Apple revealed that it planned to face a charge of $ 900 million in the next quarter following a pricing activity, assuming that the prices do not change. It is not a huge figure for a business as large as I am Apple, but it is not something that it can simply ignore.
In discussions following the announcement, CEO Tim Cook briefly responded to the speculations that the company could be forced to set up prices, and although prudent, its response suggested that this line of conduct remains a real possibility.
“On [pricing]”, He said (via 9TO5mac),” We have nothing to announce today. I would simply say that the operational team has done an incredible job on the optimization of the inventory supply chain, and we will obviously continue to do these things insofar as we can. »»
At first, it looks like the kind of response to the company in light of information and positive that we expect to hear during income calls. Of course, Cook does not exclude price increases, because no CEOs can know what is happening.
However, this sentence at the end, “insofar as we can”, could be more revealing than it was planning. He suggests recognition of imminent problems. Optimizing the supply chain has its limits, in particular because the Apple supply chain is so large and complicated and going from China to India, for example, is not something that can be done quickly. The price exemption may not last. And Apple is not the kind of business to absorb blows with pleasure on its net profit without considering all the options, including price increases.
