Xbox embarked on an impressive course-correction spree earlier this year, thanks to a leadership swap bringing in Asha Sharma as the new CEO. A hundred days later, she has penned a candid internal memo along with Xbox strategy chief Matt Brody, going over the future of the company. It was released online as a blog post, with the main takeaway being the surge in component costs — even a giant like Microsoft will be forced to pay over 5x more for storage next year, compared to 2025.
The situation is a bit ironic considering Microsoft is one of the biggest constituents of the AI boom, and a central player in the AI phenomenon that is driving up storage and memory prices globally. Despite that, in February 2026, Xbox paid 2x as much for storage as it did last fall, and those costs have already doubled since then. By 2027, the price hike is set to the 5x multiplier; Xbox will shell out more than 500% of what it originally used to pay two years ago. RAM has followed a similar trajectory, Sharma says.
