Apple has stationed purchasing executives in South Korean hotels near Samsung and SK hynix facilities as it tries to secure long-term supplies of memory chips for future iPhones. The move highlights how tight the DRAM market has become, with companies scrambling to protect product plans as prices climb and supply gets harder to guarantee.
A key pressure point sits inside one component: mobile RAM. A 12GB LPDDR5X module now reportedly costs Apple about $70 per unit. That represents a steep jump compared to what it paid earlier in 2025, and it raises the bill for every iPhone that ships in the tens of millions.
Apple Is Posting Teams Near Chip Makers
According to Korea Economic Daily, Apple’s teams have booked extended hotel stays in Hwaseong, in Gyeonggi Province, close to major memory operations. The goal is straightforward. Apple wants two- to three-year agreements that lock in supply for upcoming iPhone generations, including models expected to use 12GB LPDDR5X RAM.
The report frames the situation as urgent for any company that ships iPhones at Apple’s scale. If Apple cannot secure enough memory, it risks delays, constrained launch volumes, or last-minute hardware changes.
Tech Companies Are Competing for the Same DRAM
Apple does not stand alone. The report says other companies, including Dell and Google, have also traveled to Samsung and SK hynix sites to secure supply. That rush has even lifted local hotel demand, with business hotels seeing more long-stay bookings from visiting corporate teams.
At the same time, suppliers have gained leverage. The report describes memory makers “cherry-picking customers,” giving priority to the largest buyers while still charging higher prices. It also notes that contract prices can rise further in the near term, which keeps negotiations tense and makes long-term pricing harder to pin down.
Behind the Shortage
AI demand sits at the center of the squeeze. Memory makers have devoted significant capacity to high-bandwidth memory used in AI hardware, which leaves less output for the kinds of DRAM used in phones, laptops, and servers. As more capacity shifts to AI-related products, standard DRAM supply tightens, and prices follow.
That shift hits smartphones in a direct way. If memory costs jump, the bill of materials climbs with it, and manufacturers face fewer clean options to protect margins.
The situation puts Apple in a difficult position. If it pays more for RAM, it either absorbs the cost or passes some of it on through higher prices. It also risks pressure to limit RAM upgrades in certain models, depending on which supply deals it can secure.
Counterpoint Research estimates the DRAM shortage can increase a smartphone’s bill of materials by 25%, which can lead to weaker shipments across the market. Apple still holds advantages here. It runs a tight supply chain, designs key chips in-house, and typically maintains higher margins than most rivals. Those factors give Apple more room to absorb component shocks than many Android vendors.
Still, the broader message remains clear. When memory supply tightens this much, even Apple sends executives to camp near factories, because it cannot ship iPhones without the chips inside them.
