All your favorite gadgets are getting expensive… again

If you are in In the market for anything with a memory stick, this might be a good time to disable it.

It looks like another round of consumer electronics price increases is underway. In June, Apple announced price increases for MacBooks and iPads. Xbox consoles also became more expensive starting in August. This comes on the heels of already high prices for products like Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro and, you know, oil, pushing up gas prices and adding to the cost of shipping something to you.

This new wave of price increases – following last year’s tariffs – is driven by many factors, but the main reason is the ongoing memory shortage, that is, software component producers are making manufacturing chips for AI data centers a priority over other technologies that require them. If this had been a short-term problem, it is likely that the affected companies would have borne the costs. But the memory shortage doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon, and the AI ​​bubble has yet to burst. Too much demand for too little supply usually means inevitable, as companies pass their costs on to consumers through creep prices.

“In the past, you might have been able to wait out some minor fluctuations like this,” says Sean Dubravac, chief economist at the International Electronics Association, which reports on the memory shortage and the industries it affects. “I don’t think that’s the case here. Waiting is not a strategy right now, and probably won’t be for the foreseeable future.”

DuBravac says the step to avoid price hikes is to buy refurbished equipment, but if you need something new, keep an eye on what the price increases have actually been. If something hasn’t seen a price rise yet, it might happen soon. But even if prices rise, this could be the best base price you’ll see in a while.

“They’re very intentional with their pricing, and there’s a lot of coordination that goes along with it all,” says Dubravac. “If you’re looking at products that have already seen a price increase, you probably have little time to think about it.”

Just buying everything you want at the moment is not realistic for people who are strapped for cash. People are feeling the pinch as the specter of back-to-school and holiday product cycles emerges.

“People are worried that they will have to pay a lot of money for the next device or their next purchase,” says Thibaud Hugues de Larose, CEO of the used market. “The bad thing about that is it just pushes people to upgrade more quickly because they’re afraid of inflation, basically.”

Perhaps the bright spot in all this chaos is that refurbished and used markets built to support and resell used products are thriving. Buying refurbished products tends to be more ethical and environmentally friendly than buying something new. Now is a particularly good time to look into the market for used devices such as phones.

Sean Cleland, vice president of mobility technology at recommerce company B-Stock, says used smartphones are selling for 10 to 20 percent more than they were in December 2025. In a normal year, those numbers would likely be flipped, with the value of used phones declining. But demand for refurbished products has risen.

“The supply chain will eventually get it right,” says Cleland. “Secondary market prices will return to a natural decline, but they will continue to be a step higher than they were in 2025. But they will never come back.”

A more vibrant resale market means more people are trying out refurbished devices. It may be out of necessity, but it has led to a thriving industry that helps used appliances find a new life instead of heading to a landfill. Manufacturers have also turned to their own resale programs, offering buyback or trade-in programs for phones, computers, tablets, watches and headphones. Selling this equipment in third-party markets will also likely generate greater gains as long as this shortage persists.

“You’ll get a lot more out of this phone than you ever would before,” Cleland says. “Take advantage of that; there is trade-in and resale value in all of these things.”