Apple memory chip warning causes fresh Asia tech sell-off

Asia markets fell sharply Friday after Apple warned that memory chip shortages were behind price increases for its products, triggering renewed investor concern about chip demand. In South Korea, the Kospi logged its biggest losses and the Korea Exchange imposed a 20-minute trading halt for the third time this week, marking a fifth halt so far in 2026. The Kospi sank 6.9% to 8,309.6 points after Thursday gains tied to Micron’s profit surge. SK Hynix dropped 9.1% to 2,651,000 KRW, while Samsung Electronics fell 6.2%. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slid 4.3% to 69,194.6, with Tokyo Electron down 3.2%. Taiwan’s TAIEX declined 3.6%, and TSMC fell 2.1%. The article says Apple raised prices on MacBooks and iPads by 20% worldwide, citing an “unprecedented challenge” as memory prices rose too quickly to absorb. It also notes OpenAI-related market timing worries affecting SoftBank, which fell 12.5%, with Arm down 3.1%.