How AI Is Driving Up The Costs Of Phones, Games And Computers

BreakingBusinessHow AI Is Driving Up The Costs Of Phones, Games And ComputersByConor Murray,Forbes Staff. Murray is a Forbes news reporter covering entertainment trends.Follow AuthorMay 11, 2026, 11:47am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.ToplineA range of tech products—like the Nintendo Switch 2 to Samsung Galaxy phones—suddenly cost a lot more money, and the booming AI industry is largely to blame, as the surge in demand for memory chips for AI data centers has put a serious strain on the supply left for consumer products.Nintendo hiked the price of its flagship Switch 2 console last week. (Photo by DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesKey FactsNintendo is the latest gaming company to hike the price of its flagship console, warning frustrated consumers the price of the Switch 2 will rise $50 in the United States in September, which comes just weeks after major competitor Sony hiked the cost of its PlayStation consoles.Nintendo’s price hike announcement vaguely cited “market conditions,” but in an earnings release on Friday, the Japanese gaming company forecast a decline in profit for fiscal year 2027, citing “higher prices for components such as memory” among other factors. The cost of memory chips has surged in recent months—doubling in the first quarter of 2026, Reuters reported—as the enormous demand from AI data centers has constrained supply for consumer products.Sassine Ghazi, CEO of Synopsys, a semiconductor company, said much of the memory chip supply is “going directly to AI infrastructure, but many other products need memory,” which has left other industries “starved.” Polygon, a video game news outlet, previously reported major memory chip manufacturers are incentivized to sell products to AI data centers because they can make a lot more money than if they sold memory hardware for use in consumer products. Ghazi said memory chip companies are worki...