The PCs and phones you need to use AI are getting pricier
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AI promises a world of possibilities — but rising device prices may put access to that future out of reach for many consumers.
The big picture: Insatiable AI demand is driving up prices for phones, PCs and game consoles as data centers soak up the memory chips those devices need.
- The result is fewer chips on the market — and higher costs for consumers, a squeeze dubbed "RAMageddon."
What they're saying: "In most cases ... those costs are likely to show up in higher prices or paid tiers for AI-enabled products and services," Jin Kim, CEO and co-founder of South Korean memory solutions company XCENA, tells Axios.
- "These pressures are forcing the industry to rethink how memory is used, not just how much of it is available," he said.
- "The industry response can't be only to increase memory supply."
Driving the news: Nvidia plans to delay a new gaming chip because of a memory-chip shortage, The Information reports.
- This follows Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan saying there would be "no relief" for the computer industry's memory-chip shortage for at least two years.
Stunning stat: Consumer RAM prices have already basically tripled in the last six months.
- In a sign of the times, Costco removed the RAM from display PCs so people wouldn't steal it.
Zoom out: AI promises quicker work, more productivity and the chance for anyone to build an app or website without knowing how to code.
- But when a phone costs $1,000 and a laptop costs $600 or more, or when those devices disappear altogether, that potentially blocks many from having the same opportunity.
- Similarly, though many AI companies offer free accounts, they are usually rate-limited. ChatGPT and Claude will stop working on projects after users reach their minimums, and encourage people to purchase subscriptions to continue.
Case in point: Google has been unleashing a flurry of new tools to customers, like the video editor and creation tool Project Genie and the photo editor Nano Banana.
- But only Google AI Ultra subscribers, who pay $250 a month, can access Genie right now.
- Claude has a similar model that gives consumers access to more mass app-creation possibilities if they subscribe to larger plans — the "Pro" plan costing $17 per month, or the "Max" plan costing $100 to $200 per month.
Reality check: Even with future shortages likely, mostly everyone already has a phone, plus PCs or laptops. Higher prices likely won't stop people from loading up Claude on their iPhone and getting to work.
- And it's cheaper than ever to do that work. A video game might have cost $20,000 or more to build a few years ago. Now, it could cost $200 (or free) if you've got the time and patience and knowhow.
What to watch: How consumers react to rising device prices, before the big AI companies open the floodgates with higher-priced subscriptions.
- "Right now, we have the luxury of learning how to use AI 'for free,'" wrote Nicolas Cole, founder and editor-in-chief of Digital Press, in an X post. "But eventually, all these companies are gonna need to become profitable."
- He added, "which means, if you think the skill/wealth divide is wide now ... just wait 5 years. It's going to be cataclysmic."
The bottom line: "Learn to code" is now "learn to prompt," but the cost to get there is shaping up to be a growing problem.
