Apple stockpiles inventory as it braces for ‘significant supply constraints’
* Role: Professional editor. * Task: Summarize a news article. * Length: Exactly 60 to 70 words. * Tone: Neutral. * Focus: Key facts. * Constraints: * No introductory phrases. * No conclusions. * Wrap in `<summary>` and `</summary>` tags. * No bullet points, lists, or metadata inside tags. * Clean text paragraph only. * Generative AI boom is driving demand for hardware/memory. * Apple (and others) facing "a hundred-year flood" in memory pricing/shortages ("RAMageddon"). * Impacts iPhones, MacBooks, and Apple silicon chips. * Apple's June quarter was strong (iPhone +22%, Mac +29%), but supply constraints are increasing. * Apple increased inventory to $11.1 billion (from $5.7 billion) to hedge against shortages. * Prices for Macs and iPads were raised. * Other companies (Meta, Samsung, Microsoft, Sony) also raising prices. * Revenue growth forecast for next quarter is 9-11% (down from ~16%). * Stock dropped 6% in after-hours trading. * CEO transition: John Ternus taking over in September. * *Draft 1:* Apple is facing severe memory supply constraints and rising costs driven by the generative AI boom, which CEO Tim Cook described as a "hundred-year flood." Despite strong June sales for iPhones and Macs, Apple has doubled its inventory to mitigate shortages and reluctantly raised device prices. Consequently, the company predicts slower revenue growth, causing its stock to drop 6% as it prepares for a leadership transition. (68 words) * *Word Count Check (Draft 1):* 1. Apple 2. is 3. facing 4. severe 5. memory 6. supply 7. constraints 8. and 9. rising 10. costs 11. driven 12. by 13. the 14. generative 15
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