{"id":17800,"date":"2026-08-01T23:35:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T21:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/01\/not-just-pcs-roku-hikes-prices-up-to-60-as-ram-crunch-drags-on\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T23:36:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T21:36:44","slug":"roku-prices-surge-by-60-as-memory-shortage-hits-hardware-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/01\/roku-prices-surge-by-60-as-memory-shortage-hits-hardware-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Roku Prices Surge by 60% as Memory Shortage Hits Hardware Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn&#8217;t affect our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/about\/affiliate-link-policy\" target=\"_blank\">editorial independence<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>The Hidden Cost of the AI Boom: Why Your Streaming Devices Are Getting Pricier<\/h2>\n<p>If you have noticed that entry-level streaming hardware is becoming significantly more expensive, you aren&#8217;t imagining it. According to leadership at Roku, the recent surge in retail prices for budget-friendly streaming players is a direct consequence of global component scarcity, specifically fueled by the insatiable demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure.<\/p>\n<h3>The Memory Market Crisis<\/h3>\n<p>The ripple effects of the AI gold rush are being felt far beyond high-end server farms. The semiconductor industry is currently prioritizing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced storage solutions for massive data centers, leaving consumer electronics manufacturers fighting for the scraps. To put this into perspective, consider the volatility of the RAM market: a standard desktop memory kit that might have cost roughly $200 in early 2024 has seen its market value skyrocket toward the $1,000 mark due to these supply chain bottlenecks.<\/p>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t just a temporary hiccup. The industry is facing a prolonged period of constrained supply that is impacting everything from smartphones and tablets to high-performance laptops. Industry analysts and major manufacturers like Samsung have signaled that this memory crunch could persist well into 2027 or even 2028, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/3203764\/samsung-warns-the-ram-shortage-will-last-through-2027-maybe-2028.html\">with no end in sight until at least 2027<\/a>. As long as AI development remains the primary focus for chip foundries, the cost of producing any device reliant on memory chips will remain elevated.<\/p>\n<h3>Roku and the Consumer Impact<\/h3>\n<p>Even simple, low-power devices like Roku streaming sticks are not immune to these macroeconomic pressures. Because these gadgets require specialized memory and storage components to function, the rising cost of raw materials is being passed directly to the consumer. As a result, some Roku models have seen price hikes of up to 60% as the company attempts to navigate the ongoing hardware shortage.<\/p>\n<p>For the average consumer, this means the era of the &#8220;ultra-cheap&#8221; streaming dongle may be on hiatus. As the tech sector continues to pivot toward AI-driven hardware, the cost of maintaining and upgrading our personal home entertainment setups will likely remain a point of financial friction for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"echo_read_more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/3203840\/not-just-pcs-roku-raises-prices-up-to-60-as-ram-crunch-drags-on.html\" target=\"_blank\"> \u00bb More Info >>><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn&#8217;t affect our editorial independence . A Roku executive said that the jump in prices on cheap streaming gadgets is directly caused by component shortages from &#8220;AI&#8221; demand. The RAM in my desktop PC, which I bought in 2024 for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":17801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpai_generated_summary":"","wpai_meta_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[36,2708],"class_list":["post-17800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tech","tag-mixtv","tag-streaming-devices"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mixtv1.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}