ASUS Signals 2026 Price Increases, Blames AI and the New Normal

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ASUS Signals 2026 Price Increases, Blames AI and the New Normal

https://retrohandhelds.gg/asus-signals-2026-price-increases-blames-ai-and-the-new-normal/

ASUS just dropped a quiet bombshell: prices are going up in 2026—and no, it’s not because of inflation. It’s because AI is eating the supply chain.

Yep. DRAM, NAND, SSDs? All getting sucked into AI servers faster than you can say “latency.” ASUS isn’t panicking—it’s predicting. They’ve been swallowing rising costs for years, but now even they’re saying: “We can’t absorb this anymore.” And they’re not bluffing. This isn’t a holiday sale glitch; it’s the new normal.

Here’s the kicker: no blanket price hikes. Just sneaky, selective increases on systems that rely heavily on memory and storage—so your next gaming laptop or Steam Deck might cost more… even if it doesn’t have “AI” stamped on the box.

What’s wild? This isn’t just ASUS. It’s every major vendor whispering the same thing behind closed doors. When a company issues a formal, forward-looking price notice? That’s not an announcement. It’s a warning shot.

Bottom line: budget for 2026 hardware like it’s 2023’s prices… with a 15% tax on AI’s hangover. And yes, your retro handhelds aren’t immune either.