The main reasons come from prolonged inflation, increased component costs, especially memory costs, along with geopolitical instability. The shortage of supply has not shown signs of improvement, causing production costs to be pushed up, forcing technology companies to adjust selling prices.
With the phone market, Apple users may have to pay more, even if they do not buy the latest product.
Although the iPhone 17 line maintains its listed price, older models such as iPhone 16 or iPhone 15 are at risk of price increases due to the company cutting incentives for retailers. This makes previous price reduction programs almost disappear.
Not only Apple, Android companies like Samsung have also increased the price of the new Galaxy line. The mid-range and low-price segments are most clearly affected when component costs increase rapidly. Experts predict smartphone prices may continue to escalate in the second half of the year when new flagship models are launched.
In the entertainment sector, Sony's PlayStation 5 is also not outside the trend. The company has adjusted prices twice this year, with an increase of up to 100 - 150 USD depending on the version. Production cost pressure and narrowed hardware profit margins are the main reasons, besides the impact from the global economic situation.
Meanwhile, Nintendo chose to increase the price of physical games instead of hardware. Games released by the company will be priced higher than digital versions, reflecting increasing production and distribution costs.
In the computer segment, Apple's new MacBook Air line also recorded significantly higher prices than the previous generation. This price increase not only stems from memory costs, but also reflects the general trend of the entire laptop industry when manufacturers have to adjust to compensate for costs.
Not stopping at hardware, digital services are also entering a price increase cycle. Netflix has raised the price of all subscription packages in many markets, with an increase of 1 to 2 USD per month. This move is to compensate for the increasing cost of content investment, in the context of fierce competition between online platforms.
Experts believe that the supply-demand imbalance in the technology industry may last until 2027. This means that consumers will continue to have to adapt to the new price level.
In the context of income not increasing correspondingly, users are forced to consider more carefully when shopping, even choosing old devices or lower configurations.
The wave of increasing technology prices is therefore not only a story of the manufacturing industry, but also directly affects global consumer behavior.
