Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Parts shortages in the PC market are set to drive up costs

Jayce Wagner
By

ThinkPad X1 Carbon
Image used with permission by copyright holder
There might be more budget PCs on the market than ever before, but in 2016 we saw overall prices go up and sales go down — a trend that’s unlikely to change in 2017.

Prices fluctuate for a number of reasons, but component shortages will reportedly play a key role in the overall price hikes we’re already starting to see. According to CIO, shortages of RAM, SSDs, batteries, and LCD panels have already started driving up manufacturing costs.

Recommended Videos

During an earnings call, Lenovo’s chief operating officer, Gianfranco Lanci, confirmed that prices would continue to rise for manufacturers, as sourcing components becomes more difficult and expensive. Those increased manufacturing costs are already trickling down to customers, particularly users in the market for individual components.

Related

According to PC Part Picker, RAM prices have gone up significantly since last year. Average prices remained relatively consistent in 2016, dipping down to about $40 for 4GB in May, but as of January 2017, the average price of 4GB is around $65.

Luckily SSD prices have remained relatively consistent so far, with no major upward spikes, but according to Lanci, the price hikes are very likely to be coming soon.

Component shortages are driving costs up at a peculiar time for the PC industry. According to CIO, millennials and gamers are more willing than ever to buy expensive, high-end notebooks and desktops, even as the overall PC market continues to fall short of sales expectations.

According to CIO, Intel’s chip prices increased by about 7 percent in 2016, but the popularity of VR-capable PCs kept them flying off the shelves, despite the price hike.

So, not only are component shortages driving costs up for manufacturers and customers, but the overall PC buyer profile is changing. It’s a volatile time for the PC market, and it remains to be seen how that will affect marketing strategies and sales numbers going forward.

Still, it might be a good time to stock up on those SSDs.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jayce Wagner
Jayce Wagner
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A staff writer for the Computing section, Jayce covers a little bit of everything -- hardware, gaming, and occasionally VR.
Resident Evil 4 Remake PC: best settings, ray tracing, FSR, and more
Leon parries a chainsaw villager in Resident Evil 4.

Resident Evil 4 Remake is undoubtedly one of the most visually impressive PC releases we've seen in the past few years. Leveraging the highly scalable RE Engine, the game looks great while accommodating a wide range of hardware. In this guide, we're going to help you find the best settings.

In addition to the flexible engine, Resident Evil 4 Remake includes upscaling options and ray tracing to push high-end rigs to their limit. I've spent a few hours testing the game to dig into how ray tracing performs, what the best settings are, and what you can expect out of upscaling.
Best settings for Resident Evil 4 Remake

Read more
Returnal PC: best settings, ray tracing, Steam Deck, and more
returnal pc release date gameplay

After nearly two years of exclusivity to the PS5, Returnal is finally available on PC. After playing for a little less than a week, I'm here to provide the best graphics settings I've found, as well as a few suggestions for how you can get the most out of upscaling and ray tracing in the game.

Overall, it's a solid PC port with a ton of options. I encountered a few stutters and two hard crashes during testing, but that's fairly stable for a game released in 2023. Hopefully, the few lingering issues will be resolved with a patch once the game is fully released.
The best settings for Returnal PC

Read more
Hogwarts Legacy PC: best settings, ray tracing, DLSS, and more
Two students lean over a cauldron in Hogwarts Legacy.

Hogwarts Legacy brings the massive world of Harry Potter into a video game -- and with a massive performance cost. It's a beautiful game when it runs well, but unfortunately, it often doesn't reach that mark. To help you optimize performance, I rounded up the best settings for Hogwarts Legacy.  

In addition to optimizing your settings for a high frame rate, I also took a look at ray tracing, upscaling, and the obscenely high RAM requirements of the game so you know how to get the most out of your experience on PC.

Read more