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Venezuela Earthquake, Socialists Surge in NYC, SNAP Program EXPOSED | PBD Podcast #824
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Apple and Microsoft Price Hikes: The Chip Shortage Is the Culprit
At 1:25:35 · chapter starts 1:23:52
Patrick reads out the full Apple price list: MacBook Air up $200 (20%), iPad Air up $150 (25%), iPad Pro up $200, HomePod Mini from $99 to $129 — with no increases yet on iPhone, Apple Watch, or AirPods. [1] — Tom "Apple raised Mac prices 15–20% and iPad prices 15–25%, wiping out $268 billion in market cap. Microsoft followed with increases up to 31%. …" 1:23:52 Microsoft followed suit with increases of 15–31% across 365 Business and Windows Enterprise licenses. Apple's market cap dropped $268–270 billion in a single day. Tom delivers the root cause: chip demand has exploded with the proliferation of AI data centers and high-end gaming consoles, while manufacturing has not scaled proportionally. He draws a direct parallel to the COVID chip shortage of 2020–2023, when Ford had entire assembled cars sitting idle for want of three dashboard chips. Patrick connects rising tech prices to the ITR depression thesis — rising input costs compress margins and slow growth across the economy. The panel briefly debates whether this is a short-term correction or a structural shift.
Apple raised Mac prices 15–20% and iPad prices 15–25%, wiping out $268 billion in market cap. Microsoft followed with increases up to 31%. Tom explains the root cause: chip demand has exploded with AI data centers while supply has not kept pace.
When Greece's parliament cut Social Security and raised taxes in 2015, riots broke out in Athens and Berlin. Polling shows the same generational divide is forming in the U.S.: people in their 30s want to cut boomer benefits; boomers want to cut younger workers' contributions. The collision is coming.
