Apple Hikes Rock Markets
Global Stocks Slide as Apple Price Hikes Spark Inflation and Tech Spending Worries
Key Points
The yen moved toward 40-year lows against the dollar amid risk-off sentiment in global markets.
South Korea’s KOSPI tumbled intraday as much as 9%, triggering a circuit breaker, before finishing the day down about 5.8%.
Oil futures fell more than 3% and were headed for steep weekly losses as more stranded tankers exited the Strait of Hormuz, even as Saudi Aramco resumed Ras Tanura loadings.
Analysts cautioned about hyperscalers' spending and the return on invested capital, noting that while the near-term effects are inflationary, efficiencies could push prices lower in the long run.
Global stocks tumbled on Friday after Apple announced steep price hikes, blaming a 2.5x surge in memory and storage chip costs it can no longer absorb. Apple shares fell roughly 6%, dragging tech markets worldwide and reigniting fears that the AI spending boom is fueling a new wave of consumer inflation, according to Reuters.
The sell-off hit Asia hardest. South Korea's KOSPI plunged as much as 8.19% intraday, triggering a full market circuit breaker and a 20-minute trading halt, before closing down 5.81%, The Korea Herald reported. Samsung Electronics fell 5.3% and SK Hynix dropped 8.36% on the same day.
Apple's Price Hikes Spark Global Tech Selloff
Apple CEO Tim Cook called the increases "unavoidable," according to Crypto Briefing. The MacBook Studio M3 Ultra jumped from $3,999 to $5,299 — a 33% increase. The iPad Air (128GB) rose from $599 to $749. Microsoft followed hours later, announcing Xbox price hikes of $100–$150 effective August 1, 2026, Al Jazeera reported.
The root cause is a chip supply crunch. Since late 2025, big tech companies — Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon — have hoarded high-end memory chips for AI data centers. That left far fewer chips for consumer devices like laptops and tablets. Prices for those chips have quadrupled in 12 months, according to Crypto Briefing. IDC analyst Nabila Popal warned that "new iPhones will probably be more expensive, on the order of $100 to $200" by fall, per The Washington Post.
OpenAI IPO Delay Deepens Investor Anxiety
Sentiment got another blow when The New York Times broke news that OpenAI may delay its IPO until 2027. The company burns roughly $21 billion per year. CEO Sam Altman reportedly considers any valuation below $1 trillion a "nonstarter," while CFO Sarah Friar is pushing to wait, citing volatile AI valuations, according to Forbes.
The delay spooked investors already nervous about AI's return on investment. Seeking Alpha noted that the recent SpaceX IPO — where shares shot to $225 then crashed to $152 — has made OpenAI leadership fear public markets. If OpenAI stays private, smaller AI firms like Anthropic, which filed confidentially on June 1, may also pull back their listing plans.
Oil Prices Sink as Hormuz Tensions Ease Slightly
Oil fell sharply on Friday. WTI crude dropped 4.3% to $68.83 per barrel. Brent crude fell 4.8% to $71.66, according to Al Jazeera. The sell-off came after Saudi Aramco confirmed it had resumed crude loadings at the Ras Tanura terminal — its first shipments in 110 days — following a US-Iran ceasefire memo signed June 19 in Switzerland, Reuters reported.
The reopening is fragile. A tanker was struck in the Strait as recently as June 25, and gCaptain noted that full supply-chain normalization is still months away. Still, a record 78 vessels — including 22 tankers — transited the Strait on June 24, per S&P Global, signaling that the worst of the blockade may be over.
Yen Slides, Europe Falls, and US Futures Point Lower
The yen crept toward 40-year lows against the dollar — near 180 to the dollar — raising the prospect of Bank of Japan intervention, according to IG. European stocks fell roughly 0.8%. US Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a 2% drop at the open, Investing.com reported, as the "AI tax" on consumer electronics became the dominant market narrative.
Analysts are split on what comes next. Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young blamed South Korea's crash on "heavy concentration in semiconductor stocks" and automated selling by passive index funds, per The Investor. Some economists are comparing the current "AI tax" to the 1970s energy shock — a moment when technology, usually deflationary, reversed course and pushed prices higher, according to The Washington Post.
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