For nearly two decades, September has usually meant one thing for Apple investors: a new iPhone cycle. Apple (AAPL) is reportedly planning to launch the iPhone 18 Pro series this fall and delay the standard iPhone 18 to the first quarter of 2027, according to supplier commentary reported by Economic Daily News and The Verge. The more affordable iPhone 18e and a new iPhone Air are also expected to launch around early 2027.
That would be a big change for a product franchise that had a record $54.25 billion of revenue in Apple's latest quarter, up 21.7% from a year earlier. Total company revenue was up 16% to $109.4 billion. That reason appears to be more than just product marketing.
Memory and chip shortages force electronics makers to choose which devices get scarce components. Apple suppliers say companies will spread launches over longer periods, focusing on higher-priced products with better margins. And for Apple, that could mean putting the most profitable iPhones first, shifting a perceived delay into a deliberate margin strategy.
Apple's latest quarterly results are a good case in point of why product mix matters. Fiscal third-quarter iPhone sales reached a June-quarter record of $54.25 billion, helping Apple produce $109.42 billion of total revenue. Company gross margin reached 50.1%, although roughly two percentage points came from tariff refunds.
But management also cautioned that supply was becoming a severe constraint. Apple predicted 9% to 11% revenue growth in the September quarter, below Wall Street's 12% projection, and then-CEO Tim Cook called supply constraints "very significant." Apple shares then plunged in a selloff that threatened to wipe out nearly $500 billion in market value. That makes the alleged iPhone 18 plan a bit easier to explain.
When components are in short supply, including them in premium devices can drive higher revenue and potentially higher profit per unit sold. Apple has already admitted that the greater memory cost is also becoming an issue. In June, Cook said the company intended price increases on some products to offset growing memory and storage costs as AI data centers fought for limited chip supply.
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