Laptop prices could soar by at least 20% in 2026, not just due to higher DRAM costs

[Redaktion]

Dozens of new laptops are expected to debut at CES in January – and they are likely going to be much more expensive than their predecessors. Rising component costs, particularly surging DRAM prices, are reportedly set to drive list prices up by at least 20%

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Laptop-prices-could-soar-by-at-least-20-in-2026-not-just-due-to-higher-DRAM-costs.1176288.0.html

[Phil995511]

Prices are already too high, raising them further will stop people from buying new equipment.

Or people will buy cheap Chinese equipment.

[Julian M]

Prices are already too high, raising them further will stop people from buying new equipment.

Or people will buy cheap Chinese equipment.

Well this is a real possibility, at least for countries hit by the Trump's insane tariffs - totally out of desperation too, as doing business with China brings its toll.

[Wishful thinking]

Or people will buy cheap Chinese equipment.

How exactly is that gonna happen with tarrifs?

[Worgarthe]

Or people will buy cheap Chinese equipment.

How exactly is that gonna happen with tarrifs?

Believe it or not, there is a world outside of the USA too.

[Hotz]

Sometimes I think gpus, laptops, ram, ssds are still too cheap ... if it weren't that way, people wouldn't be able to upgrade that often, and game engines would have to be more optimized more. Now instead we get all this unoptimized slop, and companies saying "just upgrade your PC".

And optimization could do wonders ... most recent example is probably "Arc Raiders": despite being an UE5 game, they actually managed to optimize the game, so it runs on potato, and still looks great. Which proves that a lot of the abysmal high requirements of today's games are artificia, probably only to enforce people to buy new hardware all the time. It's disgusting.

[Phil995511]

@Hotz

Sadly, computers haven't become very accessible and remain largely reserved for the wealthy.

In France, for example, the average salary for the working class (80% of the population) is between €1,100 and €1,683, in Spain it's probably between €900 and €1,500, and in Portugal between €700 and €1,200.

For many people, once they've paid their bills, there's not much left to afford extras at the end of the month...

Let's not even talk about Africa, Latin America, or Asia, where PC gamers can't be very numerous... You're fortunate to have access to them, you're privileged.

And to answer your question, I personally think that planned obsolescence should indeed be punished more severely. It's not right to force people to replace equipment that could still work perfectly well.

Regards.

[Wishful thinking]

@Hotz: I agree.

Although it's no longer just affecting pc anymore. Even the ps5 pro and ports to switch 2 are suffering from the same fate. Which to me indicates a more deeper systematic fundamental problem with just how games are developed today. They need to get rid of shareholders in general. Keep them private not publicly trades companies. Like valve is. I think that might resolve some of the issues.

This is all because of deadlines and devs not given enough time to finish. And every deadline is set to meet financial targets or expectations to please the shareholders.

Basically the rich have screwed up housing, cost of living and now they've screwed gaming too. Just look at Jared Kusher and Saudis buying EA. We've already seen how Microsoft bought and consolidated studios only to shut them down or raise prices as well.

These are all the same powers heavily invested in the construction of AI data centers too.

Believe it or not, there is a world outside of the USA too.

Makes no difference when all they do is follow the USA's decisions.