After the Gold and Glass Gift.. Will Apple Customers Pay the Price of Tariffs with the Rise in Prices of the "iPhone 17"?
While "Wall Street" praised Apple CEO Tim Cook for managing the company's relationship with the White House, the specter of rising prices for Apple products, including the anticipated "iPhone 17", looms due to tariffs, despite the positive image created by Cook's meeting with President Donald Trump last month.
In August, Cook gifted Trump a gold and glass plaque during an event where he announced an "additional investment of $100 billion in the United States", raising the company's planned total investments to $600 billion over the next five years. Cook said at the event: "Thank you all, and thank you President Trump for putting American innovation and American jobs at the forefront of our priorities".
Analysts on "Wall Street" considered that Cook "largely succeeded in overcoming the threat of tariffs on Apple's business" by presenting this investment, an achievement praised by Trump when he mentioned that Apple "will be exempt from upcoming tariffs on chips" that could double their prices.
However, these measures may not be enough to protect the end consumer. With Apple preparing to announce the "iPhone 17" phones next Tuesday, some analysts' forecasts suggest that the company may raise the prices of its devices.
There is "a lot of debate about: Will the price of the iPhone rise?" as Jeff Fieldhack, research director at Counterpoint, told Reuters.
It seems that "Wall Street" firms expect this scenario. Analyst at Jefferies, Edison Lee, included in a previous monthly note, "a $50 increase in the price of the iPhone 17", recommending to hold the company's stock. Analysts at "Goldman Sachs" say that "the likelihood of price increases could raise the average selling price of Apple devices over time, and that the company's lineup of phones tends to trend towards higher prices".
Analysts expect the company to release four new models this month, likely naming them the "iPhone 17" series. Apple is expected to replace this year the delayed "Plus" model with a new thinner device, featuring additional cameras and features for a lighter body.
Analysts at "Goldman Sachs" wrote that "the thinner and lighter form factor may stimulate some demand", but they warned that some trade-offs, such as battery life, may make it difficult to compete with Apple's core models.
The price of this thin device is expected to reach around $899, a price similar to that of the current "iPhone 16 Plus", but analysts "did not rule out a price increase".
This comes at a time when other consumer products have been affected by tariffs, such as clothing, shoes, and coffee, and prices of some electronic devices, especially video games, have risen, with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo raising prices of their devices this year in the United States.
