
Consumer electronics can't keep up with AI
From Marketplace All-in-One by Marketplace
May 1, 2026 · 25 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the impact of an extended memory chip crunch on consumer electronics and various economic stories.
Bad news for your next smartphone purchase: An extended memory chip crunch is upon us, warns Apple CEO Tim Cook. New artificial intelligence projects are outspending the consumer electronics sector on memory, and manufacturers have limited output capacity. Retailers will likely pass those higher costs onto consumers. Also in this episode: A retiree focuses on charitable giving, specialty movie ticket prices climb to $50, and America’s biggest energy port benefits from the Middle East oil tie-up. Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter. Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.
People in this episode
Host: Marketplace
Topics covered
- consumer electronics
- artificial intelligence
- memory chip shortage
- economic impact
- charitable giving
- energy sector
Keywords
- smartphone
- memory chip
- AI projects
- retail prices
- energy port
- Middle East oil
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Apple
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