The consumer digital hardware market is trapped in an endless structural price shock.
July 3 report: HeadTechPro reporters visited multiple digital malls across Shanghai, where numerous PC retailers stated that prices for computer components and complete machines have hit extreme highs, with further hikes looming for at least the next year with no relief in sight.
This prolonged price rally was recently ignited by Apple’s high-profile price increase announcement.
On June 25, Apple officially raised prices for iPad and Mac lineup products amid skyrocketing memory and storage chip costs. Rough calculations show the entry price of both product lines climbed by an average of around 20%. Apple noted in its statement: “The consumer electronics industry faces unprecedented headwinds. Rapid expansion of AI data centers has triggered an explosion in storage demand, and we have never witnessed component prices surge at such a steep rate and speed.”
Lenovo Group, another major PC maker, also issued a warning at ISC 2026 (International Supercomputing Conference): DRAM and NAND Flash have entered a structural upward price cycle. Even with sustained capacity expansion by major manufacturers, prices will hardly fall back to early 2025 levels, and elevated pricing will become the “new normal” from 2030 onward.
These consecutive warnings from supply chain giants stem from persistently tight supply-demand balance for upstream core hardware. AI server infrastructure expansion has severely squeezed wafer production capacity, sending basic storage hardware including memory modules and solid-state drives (SSDs) into a sharp price spiral, which in turn pushes up prices of end consumer electronics.
One PC retailer told reporters memory and hard drive prices are skyrocketing, and complete PC prices will remain elevated for at least three years: “Base price hikes start at 800 to 1,000 RMB. Last year prices edged up slightly, but this year we’ve seen a brutal surge. Take gaming laptops as an example—overall prices have jumped by 5,000 RMB. Mainstream gaming notebooks like the Legion series normally retailed at roughly 10,000 RMB, yet they now cost 15,000 to 16,000 RMB.”
The retailer admitted high-end PCs now priced at 17,000, 18,000 or even 20,000 RMB are seeing far fewer buyers, with customer traffic shifting toward cheaper price brackets. Still, he stressed the price hike wave will eventually hit every product category: a laptop currently marked at 7,999 RMB will have its official price raised to 8,999 RMB shortly.
Another PC dealer spoke more candidly, telling reporters to hold off purchases without urgent need, with no timeline for price declines in sight: “Prices for complete systems will keep rising this month, especially gaming laptops which have seen the steepest jumps. I don’t expect any price cuts for at least a full year—costs will stay inflated until this time next year. Hold off if you can; skip purchases unless it’s a must-have.”
Amid this unbroken bullish pricing trend, branded prebuilt PCs remain pricey, while DIY component markets experience violent daily price swings.
A custom PC builder sighed to reporters: “Computers have gotten so expensive I tell all my clients to stick with their existing gear if it still works and repair old hardware instead of replacing it… I’ve been wanting to upgrade my own laptop, but costs are outrageous. A high-end Lenovo notebook I sold for 19,200 RMB just a week ago now costs 20,800 RMB.”
The shop owner shared that a custom rig he assembled for a client five days ago would cost an extra 300 RMB for identical configurations today. Hard drives see even more dramatic intraday volatility—”one price in the morning, another in the afternoon, a third by nightfall.” A SanDisk 1TB SSD might be priced at 820 RMB in the morning, only to jump to 860 RMB by evening.
The builder stated plainly: “Prices will never drop unless the AI bubble bursts. This is simply the current market reality.” He also revealed a corporate client he partners with suspended procurement plans after costs spiraled out of budget: the same laptop model the firm bought last year for 4,600 RMB saw its bulk purchase quote soar to 6,400 RMB last month.
Notably, this manufacturer-driven price surge has rapidly spilled over into the second-hand digital market.
HeadTechPro learned that Apple’s official price hikes have pushed up prices across the used Mac market, with resellers paying higher acquisition costs for pre-owned units. Second-hand Macs equipped with M1 chips currently sell for roughly 5,000 RMB, while used M4 Macs exceed 8,000 RMB.
From individual consumers forced to repair aging devices rather than upgrade, to enterprise B-side buyers slashing orders amid blown budgets, the mantra “don’t buy unless absolutely necessary” has become the universal truth across the consumer electronics sector—rooted in a widening supply-demand gap upstream in the supply chain.
A storage industry report released by Goldman Sachs earlier this year indicated the global storage market faces its most severe supply-demand imbalance in nearly 15 years. It projected a global DRAM supply shortfall of 4.9% and a NAND Flash gap of 4.2% for 2026, marking a clear undersupply scenario.
Per the latest memory price research report published by TrendForce in July 2026, the DRAM market will remain extremely tight in Q3 2026. However, contracting demand for consumer-grade applications and a high price base will slow contract price growth, with a projected quarter-on-quarter increase of 13% to 18%.
Meanwhile, core NAND Flash demand remains fueled by AI inference workloads and large-scale data center construction. But with contract prices hitting all-time highs, consumer clients have reached their price tolerance limit amid cooling end-market demand. Overall NAND Flash contract prices are forecast to rise 10% to 15% quarter-on-quarter, a notable slowdown from growth rates recorded in prior quarters.
TrendForce’s analysis of the Q3 PC DRAM market notes inventory restocking demand from PC OEMs will sustain purchasing momentum. Yet as notebook makers build inventory using high-cost raw materials, channel prices for complete laptops will rise across the board, dragging down full-year shipment volumes.
