All Your Favorite Gadgets Are Getting Way More Expensive … Again
Key takeaways
- Another round of price increases for consumer electronics seems to be underway.
- If this were a short-term issue, the companies affected would likely have absorbed the costs.
- DuBravac says the move to avoid price hikes is to buy refurbished gear, but if you need something new, then keep an eye out for what price increases have already hit.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photograph: CFOTO/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story If you're in the market for anything with a memory chip in it, now might be the time to snag it.
Another round of price increases for consumer electronics seems to be underway. In June, Apple announced increased prices for its Mac Books and i Pads. Xbox consoles are also getting more expensive starting in August. This is on the heels of already-raised prices on such products as Sony’s Play Station 5 Pro and, you know, oil, which has raised gas prices and added to the cost of shipping something to you.
This fresh bout of price increases—following last year’s tariffs—is driven by many factors, but the chief culprit is the ongoing memory shortage, i.e., software component producers making it a priority to manufacture chips for AI data centers over other tech that requires them. If this were a short-term issue, the companies affected would likely have absorbed the costs. But the memory shortage does not seem to be disappearing anytime soon, and the AI bubble has not exactly popped yet. Too much demand for too little supply usually means the inevitable—companies pass their costs on to consumers via upward-creeping prices.