苹果曾经凭借庞大的采购规模，在闪存供应商面前拥有近乎压倒性的议价能力。为了压低价格，苹果不仅会让多家供应商相互竞争，还会频繁审计供应商的账目，甚至因为审计次数太多，与德勤谈下了批量折扣。如今，随着人工智能数据中心大举争抢存储芯片，闪存市场逐渐转向卖方市场，曾经习惯于掌控谈判节奏的苹果，也开始面临供应商议价能力增强带来的压力。
苹果过去在闪存采购谈判中采取了极为强硬的策略。时任苹果采购负责人托尼·布莱文斯（Tony Blevins）以强势、精于谈判而闻名，供应商甚至给他起了一个带有戏谑意味的绰号。苹果不仅要求供应商提供有竞争力的价格，还会通过审计账目、比较竞争对手报价以及控制采购订单分配等手段，尽可能压低采购成本。
苹果的一项重要合同条款，是要求闪存供应商给予其“最惠客户”待遇，即不能以更低价格向其他客户出售同类产品。为了确认供应商是否遵守这一约定，苹果会审查供应商的账簿和交易记录。据知情人士透露，苹果审计供应商的频率非常高，以至于布莱文斯曾与审计机构德勤（Deloitte）协商，拿到了类似批量采购的审计费用折扣。
这种审计并不仅仅是为了核实价格。通过检查供应商的财务资料和经营数据，苹果还能够了解生产线的实际产出、工厂设备的运行情况以及供应商的经营压力。掌握这些信息后，苹果的采购团队便能判断供应商有多么需要一笔大订单，并据此调整谈判策略。
苹果过去还曾利用审计发现供应商违反价格约定的情况。知情人士称，苹果发现美光曾以更低价格向另一家客户出售闪存，随后通过仲裁获得了数千万美元的额外赔偿。这类案例也使供应商更加清楚，苹果不仅会在签约时争取有利条款，还会在合同执行期间持续监督。
在谈判过程中，布莱文斯还会刻意制造竞争压力。他有时安排多家供应商连续参加谈判，让不同公司的销售团队有机会碰面，以强化彼此之间的竞争。参与谈判的销售人员甚至需要提前准备食物，因为会议可能持续到午夜之后，期间也未必能安排晚餐。如果谈判团队无法获得满意条件，还可能以请布莱文斯亲自介入作为施压手段。
2015年前后，苹果与闪迪（SanDisk）的矛盾曾进一步升级。当时，闪迪拒绝了苹果要求增加供货的请求，因为公司已经有其他愿意支付更高价格的客户。据一名了解相关通话的人士透露，布莱文斯随后向闪迪的一名销售人员放话，称自己会让闪迪首席执行官桑杰·梅赫罗特拉（Sanjay Mehrotra）最终不得不“跪着爬回来”求苹果合作。这番言论体现了当时苹果采购团队对自身议价能力的强烈信心。
后来，西部数据收购了闪迪。随着2017年前后闪存供应趋紧，西部数据开始改变与苹果的交易方式。据知情人士透露，公司要求Apple Pay费用，以预留闪存芯片的供应能力，但并不承诺最终一定向苹果出售相应数量的芯片。
这一做法激怒了布莱文斯。他在办公室白板上写下当时的日期并特意圈出，还将白板照片发给西部数据高管迈克·科尔多纳（Mike Cordano），表示自己会寻找机会进行反击。
机会在次年出现。2018年，闪存价格下跌，科尔多纳与另一名高管杰里·凯格尔（Jerry Kagele）带着退款支票前往布莱文斯的办公室，希望缓和双方关系。但布莱文斯并未就此罢休，而是要求西部数据承诺不再收取类似的供应预留费用。双方最终通过握手达成协议。
苹果过去之所以能够在谈判中占据优势，与其庞大的采购规模密切相关。作为全球最大的消费级闪存买家之一，苹果长期采购大量用于iPhone、iPad和Mac的存储芯片。供应商为了获得稳定的大额订单，往往不得不接受较低价格和更严格的合同条件。
存储升级业务也为苹果带来了可观的利润。根据相关报道援引的市场研究机构IDC估算，去年约有1亿名iPhone用户购买了更大容量的机型或存储升级。其中，不少消费者花费200美元购买额外的256GB存储空间，也有人为增加高达1.75TB的容量支付800美元。按照相关分析采用的约85%毛利率估算，仅iPhone存储升级就可能贡献超过100亿美元的毛利润。Mac和iPad的存储升级，以及设备空间不足后产生的iCloud订阅需求，也进一步扩大了苹果从存储业务中获得的收益。
然而，人工智能产业的快速扩张正在改变这套游戏规则。大型云计算企业和人工智能数据中心对存储芯片的需求持续增长，不仅争夺闪存，也在大量采购其他类型的内存产品。它们往往愿意签订长期合同并支付更高价格，使存储供应商不再像过去那样依赖苹果等消费电子厂商的大额订单。
相关报道指出，闪存价格较2023年的水平已大幅上涨，苹果的采购成本也因此承受压力。苹果预计在2025年为闪存支付约60亿美元，而今年的相关支出可能升至约250亿美元。随着供应趋紧，苹果过去通过多家供应商竞争、审计账目和压低单价所建立的优势正在减弱。
这并不意味着苹果已经失去采购能力。其庞大的出货量、长期合作关系以及供应链管理经验，仍然具有重要价值。但在供应有限、人工智能企业愿意支付更高价格的环境下，单纯依靠采购规模和强硬谈判已越来越难以保证最低价格。
对闪存供应商而言，当前的市场变化也带有某种迟来的反转意味。过去，它们需要接受苹果严密的价格监督和苛刻的采购条件；如今，当人工智能企业成为强劲的新增买家，供应商终于有了更多选择。苹果仍然是重要客户，但它已经不能像过去那样理所当然地决定交易条件。
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Apples once had almost overwhelming bargaining power over flash suppliers on a large scale. In order to keep prices down, apples not only competed with various suppliers, but also frequently audited their accounts, even because of the high number of audits and volume discounts that had been negotiated with Deloitte. Today, the flash market has gradually shifted to the seller ' s market as the artificial smart data centre competes to store chips, used to control the pace of negotiations, and began to face pressure from the increased bargaining power of suppliers.
Apples have used a very tough strategy in the flash procurement negotiations in the past. Tony Blevins, then Chief of Apple Procurement, was well known for his strength and profligacy in negotiations, and the supplier even gave him a dramatic nickname. Apples not only require competitive prices from suppliers, but also minimize procurement costs by auditing accounts, comparing competing offers and controlling the distribution of purchase orders.
An important contractual clause for apples is to require flash suppliers to give them “best-interest customers” treatment, i.e. they cannot sell the same product to other customers at lower prices. In order to confirm that the supplier had complied with the agreement, Apple would review the supplier ' s books and transaction records. According to sources, the Apple Audit Vendor was so frequent that Breves had consulted with the auditor Deloitte to obtain a similar discount on audit costs for bulk purchases.
Such audits are not intended solely to verify prices. Through the examination of the supplier ' s financial and operating data, apples are also able to understand the actual output of the production line, the operation of plant equipment and the operating pressure of the supplier. Once this information is available, the Apple purchasing team will be able to determine how much the supplier needs a large order and adjust its negotiating strategy accordingly.
In the past, apples have also used audits to detect violations of price agreements by suppliers. According to the source, Apple discovered that Migwang had sold flash money to another customer at a lower price, and then obtained additional compensation of tens of millions of dollars through arbitration. Such cases also make it clearer to suppliers that apples not only seek favourable terms at the time of the contract but also continue to monitor the contract during its execution.
In the course of the negotiations, Breves will also deliberately create competitive pressures. He sometimes arranged for a number of suppliers to participate in the negotiations on a continuous basis, giving marketing teams from different companies the opportunity to meet in order to enhance competition among themselves. Sellers involved in the negotiations need even to prepare food in advance, as meetings may last until after midnight and it may not be possible to arrange dinner. If the negotiating team is unable to obtain satisfactory conditions, it may also use the personal involvement of Brevens as a means of exerting pressure.
Around 2015, the conflict between apples and Sandisk escalated further. At that time, Moody rejected Apple ' s request for additional supplies, as the company already had other customers willing to pay higher prices. According to one person who was aware of the calls, Blementes then spoke to a salesman in Mundi, claiming that he would eventually have to “crawl back on his knees” for apple cooperation, Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra. This statement reflects the strong confidence of the Apple Procurement Team at the time in its bargaining power.
Later, the western data acquired Moody. Data from the west began to change the way apples are traded, as the flash supply tightens around 2017. According to sources, the company required Apple Pay fees to reserve the supply capacity for flash chips, but did not commit to eventually selling a corresponding quantity of chips to apples.
This has provoked Brevens. He wrote the dates on the white board of his office and came out deliberately, and sent photos of the whiteboard to Mike Cordano, the Western Data Executive, indicating that he would look for opportunities to counter them.
Opportunities emerged the following year. In 2018, flash prices fell and Cordona and another executive, Jerry Kagele, went to the offices of Breves with a refunded cheque in an attempt to ease relations. However, Brevens did not desist from doing so, but instead asked Western data to commit no longer to charging similar provisions for supplies. The parties eventually reached an agreement by shaking hands.
Apples had been able to take advantage of the negotiations in the past and were closely related to the size of their purchases. As one of the world ' s largest consumer-grade flash buyers, apples have been purchased for large amounts of iPhone, iPad and Mac storage chips over the long term. Vendors often have to accept lower prices and more stringent contractual conditions in order to obtain stable and large orders.
Storage upgrades have also generated considerable profits for apples. According to the IDC of the market research institute cited in the report, about 100 million iPhone users purchased larger machine types or storage upgrades last year. Of these, many consumers spent $200 on additional 256 GB storage space, while others paid $800 for up to 1.75 TB. Based on the estimate of about 85 per cent of the gross profit rate used in the analysis, the iPhone storage upgrade alone could contribute more than $10 billion in gross profits. Storage upgrades of Mac and iPad, as well as iCloud subscription requirements resulting from insufficient space for equipment, have also further expanded the benefits of apples from storage operations.
However, the rapid expansion of the AI industry is changing the rules of the game. Large cloud computing enterprises and artificial intelligence data centres have continued to grow in demand for storage chips, not only for flash memory but also for other types of memory products. They are often willing to enter into long-term contracts and to pay higher prices, so that storage suppliers no longer rely on large orders from consumer electronic manufacturers, such as apples, as in the past.
Reports indicate that flash price has risen significantly from 2023 levels and that the cost of purchasing apples has come under pressure. Apples are expected to pay about $6 billion for flash savings in 2025, while related expenditures this year could rise to about $25 billion. As supplies have become tighter, the advantages that apples have built in the past through competition from multiple suppliers, auditing accounts and lowering unit prices are diminishing.
This does not mean that apples have lost their purchasing power. Its vast volume, long-term partnerships and supply chain management experience remain of significant value. In an environment of limited supply and willingness of artificially intelligent firms to pay higher prices, however, it has become increasingly difficult to guarantee the lowest price simply by relying on the size of the procurement and hard negotiations.
For flash suppliers, current market changes also have some kind of late reversal. In the past, they had to be subject to rigorous price supervision and stringent procurement conditions for apples; suppliers now had more choices when artificial intelligence firms became strong new buyers. Apple is still an important customer, but it can no longer decide the terms of the deal as naturally as in the past.
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