Laptop prices set to increase in the second half of 2022

Faced with rising component costs and increased supply chain pressures resulting from the widespread COVID-19 lockdowns in China, as well as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, laptop makers are "mulling raising their prices to reflect rising logistics and other costs in the second half of 2022," reports Taiwanese media.

China has been intermittently closing vast population centers that are important for the smooth functioning of the consumer electronics, EV, and other industries, on account of COVID-19 outbreaks there. On the other hand, the Russian invasion of Ukraine exacerbated the rising raw materials and energy costs trend that was happening before it, adding shortages to the mix, and creating a perfect storm of supply chain challenges.

If the laptop price increases in the June-December timeframe indeed materialize, they would come hot on the heels of the exact opposite trend for a drastic drop in prices of expensive graphics cards in the NVIDIA RTX3000 series, as well as new computer pricing as a whole. Just at the end of March, laptop makers were preparing to decrease their prices to move more inventory as the pandemic lockdowns and work-from-home phenomenon started to wind down, decreasing demand.

Now, however, the exact same supply chain sources from the notebook ODM and OEM industry, are warning that laptop prices may start inching higher yet again. Each manufacturers faces unique supply issues, however, so the price tag changes may not be even across the board, or happen at the same time.

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