Wow, we are halfway through the year! And what an awful year for tech it has been so far.

2026 in tech is marked by the memory chip shortage driving up prices of electronics. And this week, the most supply-chain-streamlined companies of all announced they are raising their prices. This has basically extinguished hopes for the rest of us.

Apple Increases Prices

Apple’s prices have increased because of the memory chip shortage. Even in India – and some devices are up more than ₹50,000/- overnight. And it should feel like a betrayal for Indian consumers.

Apple increased the prices of its iPad and MacBook lineup on Thursday, saying it could no longer absorb the rising costs of memory and storage chips fueled by AI data-center expansion. The price hike does not yet apply to the iPhone, but the entry-level Neo laptop now starts at $699, up from $599 just a few months after launch.

The increase shows that even the world’s most valuable consumer electronics company, with supply-chain ties envied across the industry, is not insulated from a memory-price spike that has dimmed the outlook for smartphone and PC sales. In recent months, memory makers such as Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix have shifted priority to orders from AI chipmakers like Nvidia. That has boosted profits for memory suppliers, but it has tightened availability for electronics manufacturers, forcing them to raise prices.

“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” Apple said in a statement. “We have shielded our customers ⁠from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for iPad and Mac.” Prices of a MacBook Air with 512 gigabytes went up $200. A MacBook Pro ‌with 1 terabyte of storage will become $300 more expensive. Apple also raised prices for both versions of its HomePod smart speaker and Apple ‌TV set-top box. iPhones are very like to see a price hike soon.

Not to brag, but I wrote about this in December 2025. Six months ago. And put out this video in March 2026, three months ago.

In India, the price increase of Apple products is worse. Disproportionately and unfairly worse. It should feel like a betrayal for Indian consumers.

Let me borrow this table from gsmarea and show you:

Take for example the MacBook Pro 14 from the table above. In the US, the price rise is $300. Even in today’s exchange rate, that’s under ₹30,000. But in India, the price has risen by ₹50,000.

You know what sucks even more? This is coming after Apple’s massive “Make in India” push. Where especially over the last two years, more and more of Apple’s products – not just iPhones – are made in India and exported to other markets. Sadly the prices of iPhones and MacBooks have never reduced for Indian consumers. And it’s a double betrayal now, because these very made-in-India products are disproportionately more expensive in India.

This is a failure of Apple and of the Indian Government for failing to keep the prices down for Indians.

Look at this table by Moneycontrol – largely tracks:

This bit of news also coincides – but seeming not related – with FoxConn infusing another $37m investment in its India subsidiary. Apple is using Made in India products for the local market as well as exporting them. What good is any of this investment for Indian consumers like you and me?

Don’t forget that Apple has a big antitrust suite in India brought about by the CCI.

Tata Electronics’ Data Breach Exposes Apple and Tesla Sensitive Information

This is not related to Apple’s price hike and happened before the hike.

Tata Electronics, a major Tier-1 supplier that assembles a substantial share of iPhones in India and supplies components for Tesla, has confirmed a cybersecurity breach after a ransomware group leaked more than 630 GB of stolen data on the dark web. This breach exposed a lot of sensitive data, which includes the likes of:

• A 52-page document detailing quality inspection standards for iPhone circuit board components, material specifications, and files labeled “com.apple.factorydata”. 
• Tesla engineering drawings and schematics explicitly marked as “TRADE SECRET,” including design drawings related to “Project Highland” (the revamped Model 3 sedan) and specifications for a Model Y chargeport controller. 
• Employee Data: Passports, emails, and event logs spanning several years, exposing both foreign national and local employees. 

A ransomware and extortion group known as World Leaks claimed responsibility for the breach and issued a ransom demand, though the exact amount has not been disclosed.

Following the leak, Tata Electronics reportedly tightened internal access controls, sharply restricting remote access to sensitive systems such as its order-management tools. Apple’s cybersecurity team has reportedly begun a full review of the breach, while Tesla has not yet commented publicly.

Headlines

• Amazon CEO Andy Jassy visits India, announces quick commerce scale up plans for 300 cities. Then Andy Jassy met Narendra Modi and announced a $13 billion investment in India to boost AI and Cloud Infrastructure. That – added to the 35 billion announced earlier – makes it 48 billion in committed investment.
• Hyundai and TVS announce pilot of “Blue Move”, a three-wheeler EV ride hailing platform. In Delhi NCR region. Where the Government is try really hard to push EV adoption. It was rumoured this week that the Delhi government palns to stop the registration of new petrol two-wheelers altogether from April 2028.
• The Department of Telecommunications has issued draft regulations for the administrative allocation of spectrum under the Telecommunications Act, 2023. These draft rules mark an important move toward making spectrum assignment operational for satellite providers such as Jio’s secret project, Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb, and Amazon’s Project Kuiper. They also outline who is eligible, how to apply, the terms of spectrum assignment, and how spectrum fees will be calculated. The government has invited public feedback for 30 days before finalizing the rules.
• The Indian Army has signed an MoU with Zoho to support indigenous digital transformation under the Jointness, Atmanirbharta, and Innovation (JAI) mission. The collaboration will focus on secure digital platforms, application-based R&D, and technology skill development as the Army works toward becoming more future-ready.
• The Indian Government is planning to disburse ₹7,100 crores in FY27 under a fresh set of projects targeting chip fabrication, manufacturing and design. The Government expects the funding to attract another ₹15,000 crores and generate close to 5,000 jobs.
• Centre may acquire Upto 2% stake in Sarvam AI. Sarvam was already one of the biggest benefactors of the India AI Mission. And are completing a recent funding round from other investors. Smart.
• The RBI issued a directive to limit liabilities of customers in case of unauthorized digital banking transactions. The liability is limited to ₹25,000/-.
• India and US reportedly in talks for access to Claude Fable. This is after the US Government’s export directive. And coincides with the US Government instructing OpenAI to limit access to its latest model. Also, a US legal tech firm is suing the federal a government challenging that export directive. Also, Trump tells Axios that he no longer views Anthropic as a national security threat. This story is very confusing, I know. It’s confusing because of the US Government, no less.
• Pocket FM shuts Pocket TV despite India’s microdrama boom.
• Adani Group launches Vande Bharatam, a nationwide initiative to “identify and support entrepreneurs, innovators and problem solvers across India”. They didn’t say how much.
• Coworking major Smartworks is acquiring a Singapore-based competitor called WorkStudio.
• SaaS major MoEngage acquires US based AI marketing startup Aampe to scale AI Marketing. Aampe provides dedicated autonomous agents for every individual customer of a brand.
• Kunal Shah left CRED and is now global CEO of WhatsApp. But hey, Meta might buy CRED.
• Jio files IPO papers. We covered this last week, but worth reminding again. No update since then though.

One more thing…

Flipkart had a creator event called Glam Up 2026 where creators scrambled to take gift hampers. It’s equal parts funny and cringe – just look at the bottom half of this reel from NDTV where you’ll see “influencers” fist-fighting for free stuff. And a lot of these “influences” are familiar to me because their promoted reels have popped up on my timeline many times.

Speaking of Flipkart and influences and price hikes, Amazon’s Prime Day India starts on July 4th. Remember to exercise caution and consume responsibly.

This Week’s Find

Yes, until last week I used to do five finds, but from now it’s just one quirky find from Amazon every week – to make it less overwhelming and more concentrated. Thanks to your feedback!

This week’s find is a Nokia phone. Yes, you all know that Nokia still makes and sells phones. But the Nokia 105 Classic caught my eye because it’s a “dumb” phone that costs less than ₹1,100/- but can make UPI payments. It does not however have a camera so you can’t scan QR codes.

But it does have wireless FM and crazy battery life. And it has Snake, the evergreen mobile game.

These Nokia phones are made by a company called Human Made Devices (HMD). HMD Global is an independent Finnish startup that designs, markets, and sells mobile devices. They pay royalties to Nokia for use of their brand. And what a brand it was.

Give Me Feedback

I write this post and create a podcast and video every week because more and more of you are consuming my content, and that keeps me going. Thank you to all those who have given me your feedback so far, it has already helped me make better content and has led me to reach more people. Please share with me one thing you’d like me to change or improve on. Also, I made this free tool to help people decide on which phone to buy. It’s on my homepage, check it out!

That’s it for now! Don’t forget you can see the weekly TWITI video on by YouTube channel, or listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you’d like to receive the weekly news roundup directly to your inbox, subscribe to me on Substack. This is all free so share with a friend. See you next week!