Prices for consumer devices such as laptops, phones, and game consoles are increasing, with the rise attributed to an "AI tax" that makes memory more expensive and is not expected to reverse soon.
Who Pays
Tim Biggs reported on April 3, 2026, that popular consumer laptops have seen price rises approaching $1000 over the past four years. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 smartphone is $300 more than its S22 model. Sony increased the price of its PlayStation 5 in Australia to $1000 on Thursday; it launched in 2020 at $750. The Xbox Ally X handheld PC, which uses 8000MHz RAM, had a mid-cycle price increase from $1600 to $1800.
The article says RAM is a fundamental component in all computing devices, storing data for actively used applications for rapid CPU access. It says most RAM is manufactured by two major suppliers in South Korea. The demand from new AI data centers for high-bandwidth memory has shifted production, with high-bandwidth memory for AI hyperscalers using approximately three times the wafer capacity of consumer DRAM.
The AI Tax
The report says OpenAI’s Stargate project, a plan for massive data centers in the US that is now at risk, was recently estimated to consume 40 percent of the global RAM capacity. A recent analyst report from Counterpoint said that "the market is witnessing a full-throttle upward trend across all segments." The article says many new devices are currently at their lowest price point for the next few years, even if they are more expensive than their 2024 equivalents.
Specific impacts include sticks of RAM and graphics cards for DIY PCs doubling in price and continuing to rise, and some non-volatile memory like SD cards also being affected. Annually refreshed products such as laptops and smartphones are expected to be more expensive each year and may experience mid-cycle price increases. New game console releases are being delayed, and existing models are likely to see price hikes.
Corporate Standards, Consumer Costs
Microsoft has mandated that laptops must have at least 16GB of RAM to be branded a Copilot+ PC and access Windows AI features, which has largely eliminated the market for basic sub-$1000 8GB laptops, though Apple has recently launched one. The article presents this as part of the broader shift in device pricing tied to AI-related memory demand.
The report also notes that Nvidia’s DLSS 5 technology, designed to make video games run faster, appeared to take creative license with faces, inventing details like wrinkles, make-up, and hair texture, making characters resemble AI-generated photos. The demonstration of DLSS 5 required two RTX 5090 graphics cards, each currently valued at approximately $7000.
The article does not mention unions, worker organizing, or any state response to the price increases. It records a market in which AI demand is pushing up the cost of basic components and consumer devices while manufacturers and platform companies set the terms of access.