will be stepping into the considerably historic shoes of Tim Cook from Tuesday as he steps in to be the eight , a company that has defined technological innovation for consumer products in the 21st century.
Within two days of him taking over, Ternus has to helm the much-awaited 9 September event, Surprise and Shine, in which products like the iPhone 18 Pro series as well as the much-hyped foldable iPhone will be launched.
Memory costs rise, prices to likely shoot up
Ternus steps in as the CEO of Apple at quite a turbulent time for the company. The tech giant is facing considerable pressure as memory costs continue to soar, which have already forced the company to increase the prices of several products across categories.
It has still not increased the price of the iPhone 17, the Pro series of which will likely be discontinued as soon as the iPhone 18 Pro series launches Wednesday. However, a number of reports are claiming that the iPhone 18 series will see a price bump of $100 to $200.
Research firm TrendForce predicts that the , which some are saying will be called the iPhone Ultra, is expected to launch at a starting price of $2,099 to $2,299, which will be the first time an iPhone breaches the $2000-mark. Keeping up sales of such an expensive iPhone in these challenging times will be a concern for Ternus.
Huawei, Xiaomi launch foldable smartphones ahead of iPhone Ultra
Adding to Ternus’ headache, both Huawei and Xiaomi launched new flagship foldable smartphones of their own just before the release of the tentative iPhone Ultra.
Huawei’s new Mate XT2 series is a tri-fold phone which is priced at around $2,980 starting and goes up to $3,725.
Xiaomi unveiled the Xiaomi 18 Fold, which is its most premium smartphone to date.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun explicitly said the device comes with several advantages over iPhones. It weighs 219 grams, and measuring 5.02 mm thick when unfolded, the phone is lighter than Apple’s iPhone Pro Max, he said, as per Reuters.
EU App Store fee overhaul may dent revenues further
Apple overhauled its commission structure for apps developers in the European Union in August in order to put an end to its disagreements with the European Commisison over some of its business practices.
As per the new model, the company has replaced the earlier Core Technology Fee which was levied per app installment to a flat 5% commission for digital goods being distributed through apps outside Apple’s App Store. The company has also adjusted rates for payments beyond its own platform as well as its own in-app purchases, thus making it easier for developers to launch their alternative app stores.
This new move, although keeps its business smooth in Europe, can dent its revenues from App Store earnings.
Apple Intelligence needs to impress
With the launch of the 18 Pro series, Apple will also be rolling out iOS 27, which promises a leap in the performance of Apple Intelligence. Apple, which through its hardware business, has continued to keep iPhone sales at the top of the industry, will surely like to bridge the gap in terms of AI capabilities of its phones when compared to similarly priced Android devices.
Apple is likely to make Siri smarter with the new launch along with enhanced camera-based visual intelligence. Its AI-assisted image editing is also expected to get a boost with the iOS 27 launch.