Roku Hikes Streaming Hardware Prices by Up to 60 Percent

If you’ve been putting off buying a streaming box, the bill just went up — and not a little. Roku has raised prices across its streaming hardware lineup, with the cheapest HD Streaming Stick jumping from $29.99 to $39.99 and some models climbing by as much as $50, per The Verge and corroborated by Ars Technica and CNET.

What changed

• Entry HD Streaming Stick: $29.99 → $39.99
• Top-end devices: increases up to $50
• Blame: a RAM shortage Roku and rivals are now calling “RAMageddon”
• Scope: the hike hits Roku’s full hardware range, not a single SKU

Why everything is getting more expensive

Roku isn’t alone. The same memory crunch is pushing Qualcomm to raise Snapdragon prices by double digits, Google to admit a Pixel 11 increase, Framework to pass memory costs to buyers, and AAWireless to nudge its adapter up. When the cheapest component in a gadget becomes a commodity squeeze, the price tags everywhere move in lockstep.

Our buying advice

Buy now if you need one. Prices are more likely to drift up than fall in the next two quarters, so if your current streamer is dying, grab it today rather than next month.

Consider the ecosystem you’re locked into. Roku’s value was always “cheap and simple.” At $40 for the entry stick, the gap to a Fire TV Stick or a Chromecast-with-Google-TV narrows — shop the competitor sales before assuming Roku is still the bargain.

Don’t panic-upgrade. If your existing streamer still gets updates and runs your apps, the hike is not a reason to replace working gear. The pain is for first-time buyers and the soon-to-be-obsolete.

Bottom line

Roku’s hike is less a Roku problem than a symptom: the cheap-hardware era is bumping into a memory shortage. Buy what you need, skip what you don’t, and watch for bundle deals this holiday season when retailers eat some of the increase.

Related: More electronics news and guides · The latest tech deals

Source: The Verge