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Apple turns to Samsung for most iPhone 17 memory
Apple increased its procurement of low-voltage LPDDR memory from Samsung for the iPhone 17 series. The company secured 60-70% of the supply, which strengthens Samsung's status as a key partner.
According to the Korean Economic Daily.
Why did Apple increase its memory purchases from Samsung?
Samsung's flagship business is often associated with mass DDR memory. However, in the case of Apple, LPDDR — an energy-efficient type of RAM designed for mobile devices — plays a special role. According to market information, Samsung received the largest volume of LPDDR5X for the iPhone 17 and could become the number one supplier in this category.
The iPhone receives LPDDR from three major manufacturers: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. Apple does not officially disclose the distribution of shares between them. Previously, the perception of the supply balance was partly based on the results of smartphone "teardowns": such reviews often mentioned SK Hynix chips, leading to the assumption that SK Hynix had an advantage or was at least on par with Samsung.
Producing around 230 million iPhones per year requires guaranteed volumes of LPDDR, which is difficult to achieve without Samsung's scale. Another factor is the redistribution of production priorities. SK Hynix and Micron are focusing more on high-speed memory for AI, while Samsung continues to dominate the market for "regular" DRAM. For this reason, Apple is trying to secure as much mobile memory as possible from Samsung.
Apple's dependence on Samsung is also explained by the "AI era," as the role of memory in smartphones is growing. The iPhone 17 Air, Pro, and Pro Max have 12 GB of RAM, the most in iPhone history; the iPhone 15 and 16 had 8 GB. This increase is due to the need to launch generative AI functions, which increase the demand for memory capacity and speed.
Earlier, we reported that DRAM shortage could set the smartphone market back several years in terms of memory capacity. According to a recent report, manufacturers may revert to budget models with 4 GB of RAM, and the transition of flagship models to 16 GB will be significantly delayed.
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