John Ternus says Apple expects memory costs to increase into December and beyond; Apple's inventory grew to $14.54B in Q4, up 31.1% QoQ and 154.3% YoY (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

Apple CEO John Ternus announced his first earnings report, highlighting the ongoing shortage of the company's first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo. The device, which was released in October, quickly sold out both online and at Apple stores, drawing long lines. Ternus stated that the production ramp-up is progressing well, but Apple cannot predict when supply will meet demand.

Some users have reported cracked screens since the iPhone Duo's launch, with a "very small percentage" of devices being returned due to display issues. Apple is replacing the affected units.

The AI-powered Siri has undergone a significant overhaul, handling 2.5 billion requests daily. Ternus revealed that the company faced delays in launching the revamped Siri, which was initially planned for release in 2024. Despite the delays, Ternus emphasized that the new Siri is "the one we always wanted," and it was built from the ground up.

Component costs have increased due to a surge in memory demand for AI applications. Apple recently raised the prices of the iPhone 17 by $100 and increased MacBook prices. Ternus noted that these price increases helped offset the higher memory costs, partially offset by carrying inventory and lower costs on certain non-memory components.