Apple considering raising prices for the iPhone 17 series to be released in 2025, not citing 'Trump tariffs' for fear of political friction
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), an American economic newspaper, reports that Apple is considering raising the price of the iPhone 17, which is expected to be released in the fall of 2025. However, it seems that Apple is avoiding citing US tariffs on imports from China as the reason for the price increase, and instead citing new features and design changes as the reason.
Exclusive | Apple Considers Raising iPhone Prices, Without Blaming Tariffs - WSJ
WSJ: Apple Weighing Price Hikes for iPhone 17 Lineup Without Blaming Tariffs - MacRumors
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/12/apple-considering-price-increases-iphone-17/
In trade talks held in Geneva, Switzerland, the United States and China agreed to reduce mutual tariffs for a certain period of time, but the additional 20% tariffs imposed by President Trump in response to the influx of synthetic drugs remain in place, including on smartphones. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the current tariff policy will result in additional costs of $900 million (about 130 billion yen) this quarter alone, and that these will continue to increase.
To address this situation, Apple is shifting production for the US market to India, and CEO Cook has said that the majority of iPhones shipped to the US in the second quarter of 2025 (April to June) will be made in India.
50% of iPhones could be made in India by 2027 - GIGAZINE
However, Chinese factories will still be responsible for the majority of production for the more profitable high-end models like the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, and while Indian factories are also capable of producing the Pro models, they do not yet have the infrastructure and technical capabilities to support mass production on a Chinese scale.
Against this backdrop, the impact of Trump's tariffs on iPhone prices is likely to be significant, making price hikes inevitable.
However, Apple is being careful not to attribute the price hike to the Trump tariffs. The WSJ cited a case in which Amazon tried to include the tariff increase in its prices in April 2025, but was pressured by the White House and withdrew the offer, saying, 'Apple's worst-case scenario would be to say that it was forced to raise prices because of new features or design changes, not tariffs.'
Amazon had planned to include the tariff increase in the price, but bowed to pressure and withdrew the plan - GIGAZINE
Apple will essentially pass on the additional costs of the tariffs to consumers, but officially it is trying to avoid political friction by citing 'new features and design changes' as a different reason.
Market reactions to the iPhone price hike have been mixed, with some expressing concern that 'inflation is already putting a strain on household finances, and without groundbreaking features, more consumers will continue to use their current devices for a long time or purchase older models,' as well as pointing out the possibility that 'they will shift to cheaper competing products.'