Rising costs across the global tech supply chain are forcing some of Apple’s biggest competitors — most notably Microsoft and Samsung — to increase prices on smartphones, tablets and notebooks, signaling a potential shift in the competitive landscape for consumer electronics.
Apple has not increased prices. It’s actually recently moved the opposite direction by introducing the most affordable MacBook ever.
Microsoft and Samsung raise prices, testing consumer demand
Price is an important part of the appeal of Android and Windows devices. Those seeking a low-cost or even mid-range smartphone often choose Samsung or other Android makers because Apple primarily makes premium handsets. The same goes for Windows PCs — lower prices compared to Macs bring in many customers.
So it’s not good news for Samsung that it’s been forced to quietly roll out price hikes across a wide swath of its Galaxy lineup, according to reports from Phone Arena and others. This increases affect not just flagship foldables but also midrange phones and tablets. The reports show storage upgrades on devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy S25 series climbing by $40 to $80, while tablets have seen even steeper increases — sometimes as high as $280 for higher-capacity models.
Microsoft is following a similar path. The company has increased prices across its Surface lineup, with some flagship models jumping by as much as $500 compared to their original launch prices, reports Windows Central and others. Entry-level devices that once started under $1,000 are now priced well above that threshold, reflecting a sharp escalation in costs.
Microsoft pointed directly to rising memory and component costs as the driving force behind the changes.
“Due to recent increases in memory and component costs, Surface is updating pricing on Microsoft.com for its current‑generation hardware portfolio,” a company spokesperson told Windows Central.
Blame RAM-ageddon
As Microsoft made clear, at the heart of these price increases is a global shortage of memory chips, particularly DRAM and NAND flash, which are essential components in modern devices. Surging demand from AI data centers has strained supply, pushing prices sharply higher and leaving some manufacturers little choice but to pass those costs on to consumers.
Of course, Apple is not immune. It hasn’t raised its prices, but did stop offering the option to configure Mac mini and Mac Studio desktops with very large amounts of RAM.
Even so, all its iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and more remain at the same prices they were last fall. And the MacBook Neo debuted last month at only $599.
Meanwhile, competitors appear to be entering a new phase where higher prices are no longer the exception but the norm.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
