US Senator calls Apple CEO Tim Cook greedy
A long-time US Senator attacked Apple and its CEO for jacking up prices and calls the move "unacceptable."
Tim Cook called greedy by US Senator | Image by PhoneArena
Apple's decision to raise prices on certain iPad and MacBook models last week wasn't unexpected. Apple CEO Tim Cook had said back on June 17 that Apple had no choice but to raise
prices due to higher memory chip and storage chip prices caused by the massive demand for these components for use in AI data centers.
Apple seeks permission from the White House to buy scarce memory chips from blacklisted Chinese firm
Things are so bad that Apple asked for permission to buy memory chips from a blacklisted Chinese firm called ChangXin Memory Technologies. While the iPhone has been spared so far, most expect Apple will raise prices on the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max when the new models are introduced this September.
Some believe that the iPhone 18 Pro may receive a price hike of $300 bringing its starting price to $1,399. Global investment firm J.P. Morgan, on the other hand, sees Apple hiking the iPhone 18 Pro price by only $50 to $1,149. The price of the iPhone 17 Pro last year started at $1,099.
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders equates Apple CEO Tim Cook with corporate greed
Cook and Apple have been blasted by many consumers for hiking prices with many wondering why Apple can't simply accept a lower profit margin. But Bloomberg's Mark Gurman had the perfect response to those wondering why Apple, with its huge bank account, doesn't simply eat some of the higher chip prices instead of passing them along to consumers. "Apple," Gurman wrote in his weekly Power On column, "is a business, not a charity."
A well-known politician has also made it clear where he stands in this whole Apple price-hiking brouhaha. The politician is a US Senator, but he is not officially aligned with either major political party. I'm referring to comments made by Independent Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a former Democrat.
A tweet from Senator Bernie Sanders criticizes Apple for its recent price hike. | Image by X
Senator Sanders wonders how Apple, a company that reports billions of dollars in profits every year, and spends more than its annual profits on stock buybacks, is deciding to pass the higher chip costs on to consumers. Bernie, in a tweet, called out Apple CEO Tim Cook as the personification of "corporate greed." He adds that "These price hikes aren't unavoidable. They're unacceptable."
Several Wall Street analysts defended Apple for taking action
On the other hand, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, an Apple perma-bull who, as far as I can recall, always supports Apple, did so again in this situation. In a tweet, Ives wrote that Apple had to raise prices, that it ripped the band-aid off and called it "the right move for margins." Deepwater Asset Management's managing partner Gene Munster, another long-time Apple bull says that Apple's customers are loyal.
Munster posted a tweet in which he said "Apple's 1.5B consumers (my estimate) are locked into the ecosystem and more importantly get a ton of value out of the products even with the most recent price bump." What is interesting is that while Senator Sanders criticized Apple for raising prices, many Wall Street analysts seem to see things Apple's way.
It should be pointed out that Sen. Sanders overstated the amount Apple spent on stock buybacks in fiscal 2025. While Sanders said the amount was $310 billion in his tweet, the actual amount was $89.3 billion.
The price hike has impacted Apple's valuation
Most analysts still hold Apple in high regard. Apple's shares plunged over 6% on the day the price hikes were announced, closing at $275.20. On June 2, Apple set an all-time closing high of $315.20 and it has declined 10% since then. Munster called the decline an "overreaction on fears of demand destruction." This decline has cost Apple approximately $500 billion in market value.
Apple is scheduled to next release an earnings report on July 30. On that date, Apple will reveal how it did during the fiscal third quarter. It is probably too early for any analysis of the fiscal third quarter to reveal any changes in demand due to the price hikes that took effect on June 25th. Apple's fiscal third quarter covers the three-month period running from the start of April through the end of June.
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