usatoday24
The Donald Trump tariffs They are about to unleash A global commercial warand one of the most obvious consequences is clear: everything will cost more. The question, of course, is how much more, and for that we have a good example of reference: Apple’s iPhone, which takes years Trying to diversify your logistics and manufacturing.
Goodbye to the iphone of 999 departure dollars? We have been for almost a decade during which Apple has always maintained the starting price of its best iPhone, which was always at $ 999. There were sections with which the firm played to maintain that bar, such as storage capacity, but That price label was consistent. Now it can stop being.
Tariffs in sight. Apple manufactures a good part of the iPhone in China, and there the total tariffs will be 54%, a spectacular figure that threatens notable price increases for iPhone. Other Apple products are manufactured in others Asian countries like India (25% of tariffs), Vietnam (46%), Malaysia (24%), Thailand (37%) or Indonesia (32%). Price increases seem practically inevitable.
This is hard to make an iPhone now. A study of The Wall Street Journal He points out how the iPhone 16 Pro of 256 GB has a “material bill” of 550 dollars according to data from the Wayne Lam analyst in Techinsights. If we add the assembly and test costs the cost rises to $ 580.
And this is what can cost with tariffs. But if we take into account the tariffs that theoretically apply to products imported from China, the iPhone would leave 54% more expensive, which places that cost of 550 dollars in $ 850. The difference is brutal, and obviously Apple would be forced to break the tradition and raise the starting price of these devices.
And there is no easy solution (and less in the short term). Dontald Trump’s apparent obsession with tariffs makes potential negotiations They probably don’t get to anything. Apple could manufacture its iPhone in the US, but you can’t do something like that from morning to night, and the firm will have to adapt its prices worldwide.
And manufacturing in the US would also be much more expensive. Migrating production to the US does not guarantee that the problem is solved. According to LAM, labor to assemble the mobile that costs $ 30 could cost $ 300 in the United States. And if each component also rises in price, the final cost of the device could become prohibitive for many people. In fact, the alternative you start talking about is Iphones subscriptions.
If you have to upload prices, they will upload them. Apple will not shake your pulse when rising prices. They have done it in the past. It happened in 2022 in Japan when Yen was especially weakFor example. That same year we had some that came out especially expensive for inflation. The first harmed by all these circumstances will undoubtedly use users.
The iPhone as a terrifying example of everything else. The example of the iPhone manufacturing price increase is an excellent and terrifying example of what can happen with any consumption product that is manufactured in China and wants to be sold in the US. Although it seems that the problem should only affect them, it actually affects everyone: if Apple or any other firm raises the prices of their products for tariffs, it will do it proportionally in all the countries in which it sells them.
In Xataka | A 54%tariff, an iPhone of $ 2,300 and no easy output for Apple
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings