Apple heads into its Sept. 9 “Surprise and Shine” product event with its shares under pressure even as several companies in its supply chain have rallied sharply, reflecting how the technology sector’s AI infrastructure spending is reshaping the economics of consumer electronics.
Apple closed the final trading session before the presentation at $316.22, down 1.17% on the day and 3.7% over two sessions. Corning gained 7.56% over the same period, while optical-components maker Coherent rose 7.10% and chip-packaging specialist Amkor Technology added 6.18%.
The divergence places unusual attention on Apple’s ability to protect device margins as suppliers gain pricing power in memory, advanced packaging, optical networking and other constrained components. The event begins at 10 a.m. U.S. West Coast time on Sept. 9, or 1 a.m. in some Asian markets.
Apple enters launch cycle with revenue growth but tighter product margins
Apple’s latest quarterly results showed strong top-line growth. For the fiscal third quarter ended June 27, the company reported revenue of $109.4 billion, an increase of more than 16% from a year earlier, and said its paid subscription base had exceeded 1.5 billion.
The September-quarter outlook also remained upbeat. Apple forecast revenue growth of 9% to 11% and described its principal constraint as supply availability rather than customer demand. The company said the iPhone had set quarterly records in several regions and reported record active installations and a record number of customers switching from other smartphone brands.
Yet the financial picture beneath those figures was less straightforward. Apple reported gross margin of 50.1%, aided by roughly two percentage points from a one-time tariff refund. Excluding that item, gross margin would have been about 48.1%, below 49% in the previous quarter.
The pressure was concentrated in hardware. Services gross margin stood at 75.6%, compared with 40.1% for products. Services revenue growth also slowed sequentially, from 16% to 12%, while App Store revenue recorded its first year-over-year decline in years, according to the figures provided.
Apple’s operating cash flow rose more than 23% year over year and free cash flow increased by more than 30%, showing that rising component costs have not yet disrupted the company’s cash generation. They could nonetheless make pricing, product mix and procurement increasingly central to the next iPhone cycle.
AI spending lifts the companies making chips, fiber and packaging
Several of Apple’s suppliers have gained fresh sources of demand outside smartphones as cloud companies build AI data centers.
Nvidia disclosed a strategic investment of roughly $2 billion in Coherent, whose optical components are used in high-speed data-center networking. Coherent’s AI data-center optical-module orders were scheduled through 2028, according to the supplied information.
Corning, known to consumers for iPhone cover glass, has also become more exposed to the data-center buildout. Nvidia announced plans to invest up to $3.2 billion in Corning to support three AI-focused fiber-optic factories. Amazon has separately placed an order with Corning, adding to demand beyond the handset market.
The distinction matters for Apple’s purchasing environment. Corning’s smartphone glass business is only one part of a portfolio now supported by AI networking construction, potentially reducing the company’s reliance on consumer-device cycles.
Amkor is benefiting from a similar shift in chip packaging. The company said it has a multi-year, $1.5 billion agreement with Nvidia, including prepayments intended to support U.S. advanced-packaging expansion. Amkor has also outlined a $7 billion plant project in Arizona, with volume production expected in 2028.
Advanced packaging combines chips and memory more closely to improve computing performance. It has become a capacity bottleneck for AI hardware, and the spending directed toward it can limit the availability of manufacturing resources for lower-margin electronics.
Memory and foundry constraints reach consumer-device makers
Memory prices are adding a more immediate cost issue. Contract DRAM prices rose more than 40% quarter over quarter during the second quarter, while NAND contract prices increased by more than 60%, according to the figures supplied. The market expects tight supply to extend through 2027 and potentially into 2028.
Those increases support memory manufacturers and component suppliers, but they place direct pressure on the bill of materials for phones, laptops and other consumer hardware. Apple’s scale gives it considerable purchasing leverage, yet it competes for capacity with cloud companies placing long-term orders for server-grade components.
Foundry investment is also accelerating. TSMC raised its 2026 capital-expenditure plan from about $56 billion to a range of $60 billion to $64 billion, citing AI demand. Intel lifted its own capital-spending outlook to above $20 billion. Applied Materials, which sells semiconductor manufacturing equipment, stands to benefit if those projects proceed.
Broadcom’s results illustrate the scale of demand behind those plans. The company reported AI-chip revenue of $16.7 billion, up 221% year over year, and guided for $21.7 billion in the next quarter, a projected 236% increase. Broadcom identified custom AI processors for cloud customers including Google and Meta as a major driver.
Product expectations turn to iPhone upgrades and a possible foldable
The Sept. 9 presentation will be the first public product launch led by Chief Executive Officer John Ternus, who assumed the role on Sept. 1, according to the supplied information. Expectations center on updates to the iPhone Pro and Pro Max models.
Attention has also focused on whether Apple will preview or launch a foldable iPhone. Supply checks described output at only a few hundred units a day in late August, well below an annual target near 10 million units. The reported device could carry a price above $2,000, with an inner display near eight inches, an outer display in the five-inch range and a 2-nanometer chip.
Such production figures point to yield constraints rather than a mature mass-market rollout. If Apple addresses foldables on stage, its language around timing and availability may offer a clearer indication of whether the product is approaching volume manufacturing.
Apple’s event arrives with demand indicators holding up, but the supplier rally shows that the cost of securing technology capacity is rising rapidly. The company’s next challenge is to turn record iPhone interest into growth without allowing AI-driven shortages in memory, chipmaking and packaging to erode the profitability of the hardware business.
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