Waiting For Discounts To Buy Electronics Is A Risky Choice - Here's Why

Technology is probably in one of the weirdest spots it has ever been in. Waiting for discounts to hit on wanted gadgets used to be part of a delicate dance, but that cycle seems to have ended. As AI data centers are now the primary customers for makers of storage and RAM, the consumer has now been lumped with the bill. That means higher costs and fewer deals. RAM and, in particular, NAND storage shortages have impacted just about every aspect of tech, and it's not going to get easier any time soon.

On top of AI focused customers taking precedent for the three major RAM manufacturers, which produce 92% of the world's RAM, OpenAI has bought up 40% of RAM supply for the next few years. Micron, a storage and RAM maker opted to stop supplying consumers and only focus on businesses in 2025, and it stated in its June earnings report, that it expects the shortage to continue until 2028. Worse, Lenovo has warned that it anticipates pricing will never return to pre-2025 levels again.

Waiting around for a discount to hit most tech these days pertains to kit that doesn't rely on RAM and storage. It's why, despite everything, products like OLED-backed TVs and monitors are actually coming down in price steadily. On the flip side, as soon as a product requires modern storage or memory options, the pricing immediately begins to fall apart.

On the PC hardware front, it's obviously the worst it has ever been. Not even the pandemic electronics shortage or the various crypto bubbles sucking away hardware were ever this bad. PC components, like RAM, are now four or five times higher than they were last year. Storage is in the hundreds of dollars, and between $150 to $200 just for a single terabyte. Even the once infallible Apple, with its stranglehold on the manufacturing line, has had to give up and raise prices.

The gaming industry has been hit especially hard. Valve's recent Steam Machine release has been ruined by exorbitant prices, becoming one of the main things to know before buying it. Microsoft has raised prices a second time and alluded of a third in 2027. A PlayStation 5 now costs more than it did at launch. This would be the particular period of time where patient players would opt into the tail end of the system's lifecycle, jumping on discounted prices and bundles.

We also have the world's politics invading everything. The War in Iran, which has caused the Strait of Hormuz to close, is going to impact oil derivatives, like plastic, as well shipping costs as gas reserves dry up and get far, far more expensive or, having to avoid the Strait entirely. Further, the Trump Administration's constant and chaotic tariffs will continue to impact hardware coming in from certain locations, which, unfortunately, major manufacturers in the space have centralized in China, one particular location that the Trump Administration isn't fond of.