Asus has confirmed that price hikes on "select product portfolios" will come into effect on January 5, the day before CES 2026 gets underway in Las Vegas.
In a letter to partners published by TrendForce earlier this week, Asus acknowledged higher costs and supply volatility tied to AI-driven demand for RAM as the cause of the increased pricing.
This adjustment is a necessary decision after absorbing and responding to cost pressure over an extended period.
Asus
As my colleague Jason England foresaw in November, the skyrocketing cost of RAM will significantly impact what we pay for tech in 2026. Asus didn't specify which products will receive the price hikes, revealing only that some "product combinations" and "configurations" will be affected.
"After carefully reviewing market conditions, supply stability, and our commitments to product quality, and while continuing to invest in technical R and D, Asus plans to implement strategic price adjustments for certain product combinations starting January 5, 2026," wrote Liao Yi-Xiang, General Manager, Systems Business Group at Asus in the letter.
"This adjustment is a necessary decision after absorbing and responding to cost pressure over an extended period."
Asus isn't the only computing behemoth raising prices right now. Dell and Framework are both raising prices, and many expect Lenovo and Acer to do the same. CES 2026, where Asus is expected to reveal several new products, kicks off next Tuesday (January 6) and the higher prices are almost certain to be a dominant talking point at the event.
TrendForce is predicting laptop shipments could fall by as much as 10.1% in 2026 due to the knock-on effect of these surging memory prices.
What should I do if I plan to buy a laptop this year?
Despite the bleak outlook for computing hardware prices at the start of 2026, there are some things that you can do to make the buying process easier. For starters, you can look at refurbished or second-hand laptops from the last couple of years. Many could be perfectly serviceable for your needs and save you some cash in the short term.
Secondly, prepare to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in to the deals events as and when they come around. Now is an excellent time to shop as the retailers will be looking to clear their shelves of stock left over from Black Friday and Christmas.
The best way to do that is, of course, to keep checking Tom's Guide as we will frequently call out the best deals we see on laptops, desktops and GPUs. Here are three that are worth considering:
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