ASUS is preparing to raise prices on select PC products beginning January 5, 2026, just days before CES 2026 kicks off in Las Vegas. In a private notice circulated to partners, the Taiwanese tech giant cited rising costs of DRAM, NAND flash, and other key components as the primary reason behind the move. This makes ASUS one of the first major PC manufacturers to publicly confirm price adjustments tied to the ongoing global memory shortage, a trend that has steadily pushed component costs higher throughout 2025.
Interestingly, ASUS hasn’t mentioned the exact models affected. However, it’s safe to assume that the price hike will affect all products with memory and storage involved, including laptops, PCs, the ROG Ally handheld, and even GPUs. On one hand, while ASUS committed to building its own RAM to appeal to the market demand and possibly offer cheaper options, especially since Micron shut the Crucial business, this news comes as a massive bummer to the PC audience.
Why this price hike matters
At its core, ASUS’s pricing shift reflects a broader supply-chain squeeze in the semiconductor memory market. After a multi-year stretch of relative stability, DRAM and NAND flash prices have climbed sharply, in part because memory capacity is increasingly being diverted toward high-bandwidth AI systems and data centers. That leaves traditional PC products competing for a more limited pool of supply.
Internally, ASUS describes the increases as a “strategic adjustment” aimed at maintaining product quality and supply stability after absorbing elevated component costs for an extended period. While the company hasn’t shared exact numbers, industry watchers expect the hikes to mirror recent trends elsewhere, ranging from modest bumps to more noticeable jumps depending on the product and its memory configuration.
For consumers, the timing couldn’t be more awkward. With CES 2026 just days away, this announcement adds another layer of uncertainty for buyers already grappling with rising hardware prices. If ASUS products already felt expensive, it may be time to recalibrate expectations. For anyone planning a PC build or upgrade in 2026, keeping a close eye on post-CES pricing, considering refurbished options, or waiting for mid-year component stabilization could be the smarter move. Whether you’re chasing AI features or not, the market is clearly tilting in that direction, and once again, the end consumer is left to absorb the cost.
