Amazon hikes Echo, Kindle, Fire TV prices amid memory cost surge: Here’s how much it will cost you now
Amazon Products Price Hike: Rising memory and storage costs are beginning to affect even smaller consumer gadgets, with Amazon increasing the prices of several Echo, Kindle, Fire TV and Eero products.
Amazon has attributed the price rises to higher costs of memory and storage components, according to Fortune. The increases come after a broader rise in prices for products such as smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles and cameras.
Echo Dot sees 60% price increase
Some Amazon devices have become significantly more expensive. The Echo Dot, which was previously priced at ₹4,782 (US$49.99) to ₹7,654 (US$79.99) — a 60% increase.
The price of Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max has also risen sharply, from ₹5,739 (US$59.99) to ₹8,129 (US$84.99). The Fire TV Stick HD now costs ₹3,826 (US$39.99), up from ₹3,347 (US$34.99).
Amazon’s e-readers have also become more expensive. The 16GB Kindle has gone from ₹10,521 (US$109.99) to ₹14,348 (US$149.99), while the Kindle Paperwhite now costs ₹19,128 (US$199.99), an increase of ₹3,826 (US$40).
The Eero Pro 7 Wi-Fi system has seen a ₹9,566 (US$100) increase and now costs ₹76,523 (US$799.99).
Amazon blames rising memory costs
Amazon confirmed the price increases, saying the wider consumer electronics industry is dealing with “significant increases in memory and storage component costs”.
The company said it had absorbed the higher costs for as long as possible before passing them on to customers.
Memory crunch spreads beyond major devices
Higher memory prices have previously been most visible in products such as smartphones, computers and gaming consoles, where RAM and storage account for a larger share of production costs.
However, devices such as smart speakers, streaming sticks, e-readers and home Wi-Fi systems also depend on memory and storage, leaving them vulnerable to the same cost pressures.
Analysts and industry executives have been warning for months that the sharp rise in memory prices could eventually affect a much wider range of consumer electronics.
Amazon’s latest price increases suggest that the impact of the memory crunch is now spreading to everyday gadgets that consumers may not normally associate with high memory costs.
Meanwhile, Apple last month raised prices for its MacBook computers, iPad tablets and other products, citing spiralling memory and storage costs driven by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence.
On its US website, the price increases ranged from $30 to $300. The 14-inch MacBook Pro, which previously sold for $1,700, now retails for $2,000, while the iPad Air has increased from $600 to $750.
The Apple TV streaming device has risen from $130 to $200.
For now, the price of the iPhone — the company’s main source of revenue — remains unchanged.
“The rapid expansion of AI data centres has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement sent to multiple media outlets.
“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.”
