Apple CEO Tim Cook issued a warning during his final earnings call, stating that the company is facing a "once-in-a-century" surge in memory chip prices, a supply shock that has forced the company to raise product prices and lower revenue forecasts.

During Thursday's earnings call, Cook acknowledged that the company's supply chain flexibility has significantly narrowed, noting, "In the coming quarter, we will be scrambling on the supply side, trying to address various shortages." He pointed out that strong demand from AI data centers for high-bandwidth memory and advanced DRAM chips is continuously squeezing the supply of chips for consumer electronics, leading to skyrocketing prices.

The DRAM market is currently dominated by three companies: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. Cook remarked, "It would be helpful to have more suppliers," and revealed that Apple is "evaluating all viable options."

To offset cost pressures, Apple raised prices on its Mac and iPad product lines by $150 to $300 in June. However, supply chain constraints continue to weigh on performance. Apple disclosed that iPhone sales growth for the current quarter is expected to slow to around 15%, significantly lower than the 22% growth in the previous quarter. Total revenue is projected to grow by 9% to 10% year-over-year, below the analyst expectation of 12%. Following the earnings release, Apple's stock price fell by about 8%.

Cook, who will hand over the CEO position to hardware engineering head John Ternus in September, stated during the call, "I have never been more optimistic about Apple's future."