Asian tech stocks tumble as Apple price hikes fuel memory cost concerns

Asian technology stocks fell sharply Friday after Apple raised prices for several products, fueling concerns that rising memory chip costs could curb demand for consumer electronics and weigh on the broader artificial intelligence trade.

The selloff followed losses on Wall Street, where Apple shares fell more than 6% after the company raised prices for Macs, iPads, home devices and Vision Pro products, citing higher costs caused by shortages of memory chips and storage.

Pressure spread across Asia's semiconductor and technology sectors. South Korea's SK Hynix fell more than 7.7%, while Samsung Electronics lost around 7%. Japan's Kioxia Holdings dropped as much as 12%, chip-testing equipment maker Advantest declined more than 10.8%, and Tokyo Electron lost more than 4.4%.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Information Technology Index fell 5.6%, while Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1.25%, reflecting broader pressure on global technology sentiment.

Apple suppliers also came under pressure. Taiwan's MediaTek fell as much as 10%, while Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn, dropped more than 3.5%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. also traded lower.

Investors are reassessing whether the surge in memory prices, driven by strong AI infrastructure demand, could begin to hurt electronics makers and consumers by pushing up device costs.

Microsoft's latest price increase for Xbox consoles added to concerns over rising component costs, reinforcing worries that expensive chips and storage could pressure margins across major technology companies.

Japan's SoftBank Group led the declines, plunging more than 13.4% in Tokyo. Investor sentiment weakened after reports that OpenAI may delay its initial public offering until next year, potentially postponing returns for key backers, including SoftBank.

SoftBank's chip designer Arm Holdings also fell overnight in the US, adding pressure on the Japanese technology investor.

The weakness extended to Greater China technology shares. Tencent fell around 1.6% in Hong Kong, Alibaba dropped 5.6%, Baidu lost 3.5%, Xiaomi slid 3.1%, and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. tumbled more than 6%.

The declines came after the Nasdaq Composite fell for a fourth straight session on Thursday, with Apple's losses outweighing optimism from stronger-than-expected earnings by Micron Technology.