Updated
Updated · Engadget · Jul 25
Roku Lifts Hardware Prices by Up to 50% as AI Boom Drives Memory Costs Higher
Updated
Updated · Engadget · Jul 25

Roku Lifts Hardware Prices by Up to 50% as AI Boom Drives Memory Costs Higher

3 articles · Updated · Engadget · Jul 25

Summary

  • $150 is the new price for Roku Ultra, up from $100, as Roku raised prices across its streaming hardware lineup and pushed some devices as much as 50% higher.
  • $40 is now the price of the base Roku Streaming Stick, up from $30, with Roku's website showing the old prices as temporary sale discounts.
  • Rising memory costs and shortages of other components tied to the AI boom drove the increases, according to The Desk, which cited a Roku executive calling it a "tough decision."
  • The move undercuts Roku's earlier stance that its lower-memory, lower-cost devices would be less exposed than rivals and might even benefit as competing hardware became more expensive.

Insights

Is Roku’s 60% price hike really about AI-driven chip shortages, or is it also a quiet reset of its bargain-device strategy?
If AI demand is making cheap memory scarcer, are low-cost streaming devices the first consumer gadgets to lose the price war?