Apple Rarely Signs 3-5 Year NAND Long-Term Agreement, Possibly Without Price Caps; AI Squeezing Capacity Shifts Storage Pricing Power

Apple is negotiating a 3-5 year NAND flash memory long-term agreement with Kioxia, potentially without price ceilings, marking a shift in its procurement strategy from "price suppression plus multi-sourcing" to "volume locking plus long-term contracts." This change stems from intense competition for storage capacity from AI data center clients, forcing Apple to prioritize supply security. Storage chip pricing power is shifting from buyers to sellers, and the duration of this storage cycle may exceed traditional market expectations.