Although memory and SSD prices are currently very high, the it wasn’t nearly as bad in the CPU market—Intel just released the new “Plus” refresh CPUs at surprisingly low pricing, and AMD responded with discounts. Unfortunately, rising manufacturing costs driven by demand for AI hardware will likely hit this segment as well. Both Intel and AMD are reportedly preparing CPU price increases, which will make PCs even more expensive.
Intel is raising CPU pricing…
The reports of incoming pricing changes first surfaced with regards to Intel, with Korea’s ET News informing about them based on sources in companies involved in the PC industry. Intel allegedly informed its partners on March 19 about plans to raise CPU prices, with the increase taking effect at the end of the month. This further worsened the situation for PC manufacturers already squeezed by soaring SSD and RAM prices.
Intel’s price hike is reportedly around 10% and will affect most PC processors. It’s not stated that all models are included, so it’s possible some will remain at current pricing. For example, one could theorise that the freshly released desktop CPUs could perhaps not be affected as Intel actually used their aggressive pricing as one of the main selling points. It sounds plausible that the company may have already se their prices with the upcoming increase in mind and thus their pricing is already adjusted. But that may also be just wishful thinking, it’s hard to say. It’s also entirely possible that the official MSRPs will remain the same, only for the retail prices to still rise in April because Intel will actually start charging distributors more, leading to the fake MSRP effect known from GPU market.
The reason for the price adjustments is said to be rising chip‑manufacturing costs. Core Ultra processors are mostly produced at TSMC rather than Intel’s own fabs, meaning Intel has no direct control over wafer pricing. And for older 7nm processors made in Intel’s own factories, there’s another issue: they now compete for fab capacity with 7nm Xeon CPUs for the server market, where demand has surged unexpectedly due to the AI boom, leaving Intel short on manufacturing capacity.
…and so does AMD
Unfortunately for AMD fans, similar reports have recently emerged about Ryzen processors as well. According to Nikkei Asia, AMD CPUs are also becoming more expensive—or will soon. The company reportedly informed partners of a price increase for consumer PC processors (which means various Ryzen CPUs and APUs) toward the end of March or early April. And unfortunately, AMD’s hike is said to be even higher, reaching up to 15% compared to what these CPUs and APUs cost a year ago.
Just like Intel, AMD is reportedly under pressure from strong demand for server processors (and possibly GPUs) for the AI market, which reduces the manufacturing capacity available for consumer Ryzen chips. Alongside higher prices, this also means shortages: in some cases, delivery times are increasing, or OEMs struggle to source processors at all even when they’re willing to pay higher prices.
This situation will inevitably affect PC affordability, as manufacturers won’t be able to “absorb” the increased hardware costs on their own. We will likely see a gradual rise in PC pricing as the more expensive component lots work their way through the supply chain into finished desktops and laptops. Asus announced a 30% price increase for PCs in the Taiwanese market this week. The increases may be smaller or more gradual with other brands, but it’s not likely you’ll avoid them whichever your preferred vendor is.
These reports are likely relevant mainly for CPU pricing for large‑volume buyers like OEM PC manufacturers. In the retail market (including e‑tailers), the price of boxed CPUs may shift to different degree, since regular customers typically pay higher per‑unit prices, while OEMs negotiate bulk discounts. In theory, this could mean OEM prices rise more sharply (reducing the usual discount), while boxed CPUs in retail might increase a bit less due to AMD and Intel competing with each other fiercely in the retail market. But it’s probably too optimistic to hope that the price hikes will hit just OEMs while sparing retail CPU market pricing entirely.
Sources: techPowerUp (1, 2), ET News, Nikkei Asia
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
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