Inflation means a new Intel PC will soon be more expensive

Global economic headwinds continue to strengthen, and the PC and gaming market isn’t immune. Inflation is everywhere. We see it at the fuel pump, the supermarket, and at PC retailers. In a somewhat inevitable move, Intel is set to raise prices across a large swathe of its product lines, citing inflationary pressures.

The news comes via Nikkei Asia and The Register. Intel hasn’t specified exactly which products will be impacted or by how much, but it’s likely to impact most, if not all of its product portfolio. Its complicated supply chains and rising logistics costs mean that price rises are not unexpected, and I would expect the rest of the industry to follow suit sooner rather than later. As upstream costs increase, the consumer will end up being the ones to pay.

According to The Register, the price increases could range as high as 20%. I would not expect consumer product lines to increase by anywhere near that much, but 20% higher prices for enterprise products could be absorbed a little easier. Yeah, most corporations are doing just fine.

Price rises are the last thing the industry needs after it experienced one of the largest slowdowns on record. It came after the boom of the pandemic and other factors including a fall in GPU prices due to vanishing mining demand and the awaiting of next gen products.

Day by day it feels like the global economy is teetering. While there is some good news, including low unemployment levels, there seems to be an inevitability that there will be a global recession. If that happens, it's things like discretionary spending on gaming that will take a hit. It’d be nice to get your hands on a new RTX 40 or RDNA 3 card to go with a Ryzen 7000 or 13th gen processor, but those things will have to wait for many buyers. Rent, fuel for the car and food on the table come first. And they’re all increasing in price.

How do you feel about this news? Will price hikes deter you from upgrading your gaming system? It’s going to be interesting to see how these increases will affect the demand for Intel products, and all of the other manufacturers too in the months and years ahead. The sugar rush of the pandemic and its low-cost financing are over. Welcome to the new normal.