Acer Predicts PC Price Increases in Third Quarter

Acer's regional manager in Taiwan has predicted that overall PC prices are likely to increase by around 5% during the third quarter of this year. The primary drivers for this projected price hike remain the continued scarcity of key components, particularly memory and SSDs. While the supply of CPUs has seen some improvement, high-end and mainstream models still face supply gaps.

Prices for PC hardware have already seen substantial increases throughout the current year. The manager indicated that a further 5% price rise is possible in the third quarter. Current market prices are already at elevated levels, and future price movements are expected to be gradual or involve minor fluctuations, rather than significant upward adjustments.

Due to persistent component costs and higher pricing, PC brands are reportedly adjusting product specifications to mitigate cost pressures. For instance, the manager cited SSDs, noting that while 1TB was previously the mainstream capacity, 512GB is now becoming the standard specification.

Beyond hardware, software costs are also on the rise. According to the manager, Microsoft increased its Windows licensing fees for OEMs starting in July, with a higher-than-usual increase. These licensing costs vary based on CPU tiers, impacting the price of higher-end machines more significantly, a cost that manufacturers are likely to pass on to consumers.