Jun 18, 2026
For four decades, buying a computer got cheaper almost every year.
According to Moore’s Law, the number of transistors on a chip, and with it, processing power, doubled about every two years while costs fell proportionally, a pattern that held with remarkable consistency for years and drove sustained declines in consumer PC prices.
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That era is over.
The artificial intelligence boom has triggered the first sustained increase in personal computer prices since the early 1980s, according to analysts at Oxford Economics, CBS News reports.
The culprit is a deepening shortage of memory chips (the same components that power AI data centers), which is now rippling through the consumer electronics market with real consequences for anyone buying a laptop, desktop or smartphone.
“We’re talking about chip-intensive products that historically, we’ve seen prices remain flat or decrease,” Bernard Yaros, lead economist at Oxford Economics, told CBS News. “It’s still early days and difficult to say if this is a blip or a trend, but it’s been a few months now. It’s putting a lot of the inflationary effects from AI into the limelight.”
Oxford’s analysis of government data shows costs for computers, software and accessories have been rising at more than 3% per month, a figure that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
Why AI is draining the chip supply
AI data centers require enormous quantities of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and DDR5 RAM.
Tech giants are placing open-ended orders with manufacturers, effectively telling chipmakers to produce as much as possible at any price, which has prompted dominant RAM producers, like Samsung and SK Hynix, to redirect their factory capacity away from consumer chips toward the more profitable enterprise market.
As Consumer Reports explains, with only three major RAM manufacturers in existence, there’s very little slack to absorb that shift without impacting everyone else.
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According to Tom’s Hardware’s reporting on IDC data, average PC prices are expected to jump up to 8% this year, with Dell and Lenovo, two of the world’s largest PC manufacturers, already announcing price adjustments of up to 15%.
Some vendors have begun selling pre-built systems without RAM included, a sign of how severe the supply constraint has become.
And IDC research manager Jitesh Ubrani told KOMO News he expects prices for PCs, tablets and smartphones to rise between 10% and 20% before the end of 2026.
IDC’s own report was equally stark, describing the situation as “not just a cyclical shortage driven by a mismatch in supply and demand, but a potentially permanent, strategic reallocation of the world’s silicon wafer capacity.”
Analysts expect the shortage to persist at least through 2027.
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What this means and what to watch for
The price increases hitting consumers aren’t always visible on the sticker. Consumer Reports warns that manufacturers facing higher component costs are downgrading the specs inside devices while holding prices steady, or even raising them.
TrendForce senior research vice president Avril Wu told Consumer Reports that both price hikes and spec reductions are likely to occur simultaneously.
So, be sure to compare the actual configuration you would purchase, not just the headline price. A 2025 laptop with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage may offer better real-world value than a newer 2026 model with weaker specs at a higher price.
Higher costs beyond devices
The cost pressure extends beyond the device itself. CBS News reports that rising energy consumption from AI data center construction is straining the national electrical grid and pushing up utility bills.
This indirect but real cost affects households regardless of whether they’re in the market for a new computer.
Oxford Economics’ Yaros flagged a second-order effect as well: the AI boom has inflated the value of technology stocks, which supports spending by wealthier Americans and, in turn, drives broader inflation.
For ordinary consumers, the message is clear: if you need a new device, sooner may be considerably cheaper than later.
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With a writing and editing career spanning over 15 years, Emma creates and refines content across a broad spectrum of industries, including personal finance, lifestyle, travel, health & wellness, real estate, beauty & fitness and B2B/SaaS/tech.
