ASUS is preparing a price increase for select PC products starting January 5, 2026, just days before the start of CES 2026 in Las Vegas. In a private note to partners, the Taiwanese tech giant cited rising costs of DRAM, NAND flash and other key components as the main reason for the move. This makes ASUS one of the first major PC makers to publicly confirm price adjustments related to the ongoing global memory shortage, a trend that has steadily driven component costs higher throughout 2025.
Interestingly, ASUS has not named the exact models affected. However, it’s safe to assume that the price increase will impact all products that involve memory and data storage, including laptops, PCs, the ROG Ally handheld, and even GPUs. While ASUS has committed to building its own RAM to meet market demand and potentially offer cheaper options, especially since Micron closed the Crucial business, this news comes as a huge disappointment to the PC audience.
Why this price increase is important
At its core, ASUS’s price shift reflects a broader supply chain squeeze in the semiconductor memory market. After a multi-year period of relative stability, DRAM and NAND flash prices have risen sharply, in part because storage capacity is increasingly being redirected to high-bandwidth AI systems and data centers. This leaves traditional PC products competing for a more limited offering.
Internally, ASUS describes the increases as a “strategic adjustment” aimed at maintaining product quality and supply stability after absorbing increased component costs over an extended period. Although the company hasn’t released exact numbers, industry observers believe the increases reflect recent trends elsewhere, ranging from minor bumps to more significant jumps depending on the product and memory configuration.
For consumers, the timing couldn’t be more difficult. With CES 2026 just days away, this announcement adds even more uncertainty for buyers already struggling with rising hardware prices. If ASUS products already felt expensive, it might be time to recalibrate expectations. For anyone planning a PC build or upgrade in 2026, it might be wiser to keep a close eye on prices after CES, consider refurbished options, or wait for components to stabilize mid-year. Whether you’re looking for AI capabilities or not, the market is clearly trending in that direction, and once again the end user has to bear the cost.
