Buying a new computer is about to get more expensive, and you can blame the artificial intelligence boom for the price hike.
HP has revealed that the cost of memory components has more than doubled in recent months. The company says RAM and storage now make up 35% of the total cost to build a PC. That is a huge jump from just a few months ago when those parts only accounted for 15 to 18 percent of the expenses.
HP’s finance chief Karen Parkhill shared the numbers during a recent earnings call with investors. She said the company expects these higher costs to stick around for the rest of the year.
The problem comes down to supply and demand. Tech companies are racing to build massive data centers to run AI services, and they need lots of memory chips to do it. This has created a shortage that is driving up prices for everyone, including regular computer buyers.
HP is not alone in feeling the pinch. Samsung has also warned customers that prices may go up because of memory shortages tied to AI. Other parts like graphics cards are getting harder to find and more expensive too.
To cope with the rising costs, HP plans to raise prices on its computers. The company is also trying to find new suppliers and cheaper sources for memory chips to keep costs down. HP’s interim chief Bruce Broussard said he believes the market will eventually settle down, but he did not say when that might happen.
The price hikes come at a tricky time for the PC industry. HP says about 35% of the computers it sells now are AI-powered models, which suggests people are interested in the new technology. But other companies are seeing different trends. Dell recently said its customers do not seem to care much about AI features in their computers yet.