Apple (AAPL) stores in the US saw increased foot traffic as consumers worry about potential price hikes due to President Trump's tariffs.
Yahoo Finance Technology Editor Dan Howley discusses the possibility of price increases for devices like iPhones, iPads, and laptops due to the trade war, advising consumers to consider purchasing now to avoid potential tariff-related price hikes.
To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Wealth here.
According to Bloomberg reporting, Apple stores in the US saw increased foot traffic over the weekend as consumers worried about how President Trump's steep tariffs would impact prices. So for this week's tech support, we take a look at all things tech, and Yahoo Finance tech editor Dan Howley is here to help break down whether some of your favorite gadgets could see price hikes due to the trade war. So let's talk about this. Is now the time to upgrade your iPhone or iPad?
Normally, I would say, uh, no. And honestly, at this point there's no definitive answer as to whether or not Apple's going to raise prices, uh, or not, they'll just, you know, eat the tariffs, renegotiate with some of their suppliers, try to lower prices. Uh, but, you know, 100, 4% tariff coming out of China, that's a big deal for Apple. They still have the majority of their iPhone manufacturing there. Uh, they do have manufacturing in other countries, India is one where they've tried to build out a lot of capability, or capacity there for manufacturing. Vietnam, they're able to do stuff, uh, for things like the Apple Watch, the AirPods, but really for the iPhone it comes down to China and India. It's tough to say whether or not now is the time, only because, and I generally say that just because we're going to get the next iPhone in September. You want to get the best one when it comes out. Is the best one going to be more expensive? Right now it's $1,000 for the regular iPhone Pro. I think if, if, if all things being equal, uh, I would probably upgrade now just to get ahead of any potential tariffs. Um, you know, gun to my head, I got to go out and buy a new phone. You know, I'm doing it because I don't want to have to pay however much Apple might end up having to upcharge. Um, the other thing that we're looking at is not just, uh, obviously the price that we could see, but what, you know, some are predicting, Dan Ives said up to $3,500 for an iPhone if it was built in the US. Now, that's, you know, a very high number, it all depends, we're not completely sure. The reason for that is Apple has to build factories here, they don't got them. They have to get people who can build iPhones here, they don't got them. And then obviously the pay that you would have to pay those individuals. So it really is still hard, but for me, if I'm giving someone advice, I would say buy now and try to avoid those tariff prices.
This is just one part of the purchase decision. What about laptops and computers?
Look, I mean, you know, semis are exempt, but that doesn't mean things with semis in them are exempt, right? So that's the iPhone, that's the laptops, that's desktop computers. And so those are also going to be hit pretty hard depending on where they're coming from. Obviously China there's a lot built there. Taiwan has a lot built there and other countries as well do a lot of manufacturing of these laptops, and the US doesn't. And so anything from here, the laptops, desktops, you're going to eventually see some kind of price increase from third party manufacturers, whether that's going to be your HPs, your Dells, your Lenovos, what have you. I think, you know, for me, especially when it comes to something like this, a very expensive purchase, usually laptops, desktops are pricey, I would absolutely buy one now ahead of tariffs.
Just lastly, we got about 20 seconds left here. Video games.
They're getting smacked around pretty hard.
The consoles specifically.
Yeah, yeah. The Switch Too was supposed to be up for preorder today. I had it in my calendar, and they said no, we're going to wait to see what the impact from tariffs are. They're built in China as well as Vietnam. Both of those countries are hit with tariffs, China obviously being the bigger. Uh, and so, you know, if you lived in the UK, if you lived in Japan, you were able to pre-order them already. Uh, but Nintendo basically said no, we want to figure out what's going on. It's still going to go on sale in June.
Yeah.
The preorders, though, they're delayed.
All right. Time to make some friends in the UK, I suppose. Yeah. Dan, thanks so much, appreciate it.
Yeah.