Apple and Microsoft price hikes continue to escalate—what are the latest perspectives from Wall Street?

BlockBeats news, June 28 — Apple and Microsoft both announced price increases for their hardware products in recent days, shifting the cost pressure from AI-driven memory/storage chips onto consumers. Market sentiment has quickly turned to “concern over demand destruction.” Apple’s share price once dropped over 5-6%. Storage stocks received a short-term boost from Micron’s better-than-expected earnings, but overall tech stocks remain under pressure. Price increase details are as follows:

· Apple: Raised prices across multiple products including the MacBook and iPad, with increases of 15-25% (some up by $100-300), stating it can no longer “protect consumers.” Tim Cook had previously warned of “unsustainable” costs. The iPhone is not affected for now.

· Microsoft: Xbox consoles will see price increases from August 1, with the 512GB version up $100 and the 1TB up $150, and the 2TB version discontinued. The reason cited is likewise a surge in storage costs (now over 2.5 times higher).

Micron’s earnings show continued strong demand for AI storage, but retail price hikes have shifted the market narrative from “upstream advantage” to “downstream pressure,” raising concerns that persistently high costs could ultimately hurt consumer and application demand. The latest opinions from Wall Street are as follows:

· Morgan Stanley says Apple’s loyal customer base and financing options will cushion the blow, limiting the demand impact, and maintains an Overweight rating;

· JPMorgan points out that the price increases are larger than expected, but the market is overstating cost impacts. Apple’s vertical integration can effectively hedge these; long-term outlook remains positive;

· Evercore analyst Amit Daryanani notes that the price hikes this “cycle” were above expectations, showing that the speed and scale of memory inflation have surpassed Apple’s ability to absorb them, but stresses that this is a common issue for the entire industry;

· Other views (such as Forrester analysts) suggest Apple’s brand loyalty remains strong and consumers are “able to bear it;” but they also warn that the entire consumer electronics chain faces an “AI cost tax.” Outlets like Barron’s point out that suppliers aren’t the only ones to blame—device makers themselves are under pressure. Overall, most on Wall Street believe share prices will remain under pressure in the short term but that confidence in the fundamentals of Apple and other core players remains strong for the long term, as long as demand doesn’t collapse, and the upstream storage investment logic still holds.

Supply chain uncertainties and longstanding tensions between Apple and memory giants are coming to the surface. Apple is now lobbying the Trump administration to allow purchases of DRAM chips from China’s CXMT to ease cost pressures and compete in the Chinese market. As CXMT shifts production toward HBM, it could become one of the biggest potential winners of this round. The price increases will test consumer acceptance and the resilience of the AI supply chain.

If demand does not significantly collapse, the logic for storage investment remains; otherwise, there is a risk of backlash. Chinese alternative production capacity is seeing new opportunities. This situation is still developing, so future earnings guidance should be closely watched.