[Miraste]

The rather soulless economics answer is that the companies want to make the same profit as before the inflation, so they need higher margins on individual sales to make up for the reduction in volume. Since demand doesn't drop, this is a feasible strategy.

[vkou]

That answer doesn't make sense, because surely, companies want to increase their profits regardless of whether inflation is happening or not.

The real answer is that when inflation is happening, it provides an easy excuse for raising prices far beyond the cost of your inputs. Everyone expects prices to go up, so they don't balk at yours going up faster than inflation.

[Miraste]

The idea is that the company normally prices their products at the intersection of supply and demand, where there is maximum profit. When supply is artificially constrained, they raise prices to the corresponding spot on the curve. This is not as profitable as before, but it's the new local maximum.

It's one of those simple macro-econ models that sound good, but never play out in real life because humans aren't calculators. The reality is a mix of both, probably more of your explanation.