Global economic inflation is causing nearly everything to creep up in price, from groceries to cars. Intel is now raising prices on its processors and other chips, which could contribute to higher prices for PCs.
Nikkei first reported that Intel is raising prices on many of its products later this year, including processors, Wi-Fi cards, and other hardware. According the report, Intel has already informed its customers (PC manufacturers) about the price changes. Higher component costs almost always mean the finished product has a higher price, so it's possible many laptop and desktop computers will be more expensive this coming holiday season.
Unfortunately, you won't be able to avoid higher prices by purchasing a computer that uses another company's processors. TSMC, the semiconductor manufacturer that builds chips for companies like AMD, Qualcomm (Snapdragon), Samsung, Apple, and countless other companies raised prices in May -- after already raising them by up to 20% in August. That's not including all the other components in modern computers that are now more expensive to produce, like memory and storage.
It's tough to tell when raised prices on electronics are the result of supply chain problems, or simply good ol' fashioned corporate greed, but it's not hard to find recent examples of more expensive computers. Apple's new MacBook Air starts at $200 more than the previous 2020 model, which Apple is also continuing to sell as a budget alternative.
The near future for the global economy and supply chain is still uncertain, so you shouldn't feel rushed to buy a new laptop if you don't need one immediately. PC shipments decreased 6.8% in the first quarter of 2022, according to analyst firm Gartner, following the record-breaking peaks when many people were buying computers to work from home. Even though component prices are going up, PC manufacturers might keep prices affordable to clear out their stockpiled inventories.