AI Chip Hunger Is Now Raising Your Gadget Prices (and Nuking Phone Sales)

IDC/Counterpoint peg a 12–13% smartphone shipment drop as AI soaks up chip supply; Apple reportedly hiked MacBook Pro prices by up to $400. Meanwhile Big Tech’s $650B data-center binge is spawning 3,000 new U.S. sites and “man camps” for workers—AI is literally rewriting local economies.