Honestly, we should’ve seen it coming. But Amazon jacking up the cost of many of our favorite tech gadgets over the weekend has truly left us flabbergasted.
The retail giant just increased prices across its hardware range by as much as 60 percent, as first reported by Fortune on Aug. 21. The affected devices include most Echo smart speakers, every Kindle e-reader, every Fire TV Stick, and the latest eero routers. The most budget-friendly gadgets, like the Echo Dot and the basic Kindle, are among the hardest hit by the price hikes.
An Amazon spokeswoman verified the price increases in a statement to Fortune, attributing them to — shocker — “significant increases in memory and storage component costs.” RAMageddon strikes again. Supply chain experts warned us months ago that things would get worse before they get better, so here we are.
Mashable Light Speed
Amazon’s spokeswoman added, “After absorbing these increases for as long as we could, we recently adjusted pricing across our product lines.”
All of Amazon’s Kindle e-readers got up to $50 more expensive over the weekend.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
Here’s the full list of Amazon devices with newly higher prices. It’s worth mentioning that Amazon’s premium Echo Studio smart speaker and Ring home security devices were not affected:
-
Kindle (16GB) — was $109.99, now $149.99 (+$40)
-
Kindle Paperwhite (16GB) — was $159.99, now $199.99 (+$40)
-
Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (32GB) — was $199.99, now $249.99 (+$50)
-
Kindle Kids — was $129.99, now $179.99 (+$50)
-
Kindle Paperwhite Kids — was $179.99, now $229.99 (+$50)
-
Kindle Colorsoft (16GB) — was $249.99, now $289.99 (+$40)
-
Kindle Colorsoft Kids — was $269.99, now $299.99 (+$30)
-
Fire TV Stick HD — was $34.99, now $39.99 (+$5)
-
Fire TV Stick 4K Select — was $39.99, now $49.99 (+$10)
-
Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — was $49.99, now $69.99 (+$20)
-
Fire TV Stick 4K Max — was $59.99, now $84.99 (+$25)
-
Fire TV Cube — was $139.99, now $199.99 (+$60)
-
Echo Dot — was $49.99, now $79.99 (+$30)
-
Echo Dot Max — was $99.99, now $119.99 (+$20)
-
Echo Spot — was $79.99, now $109.99 (+$30)
-
Echo Show 5 — was $89.99, now $99.99 (+$10)
-
Echo Show 8 — was $149.99, now $199.99 (+$50)
-
Echo Show 11 — was $219.99, now $249.99 (+$30)
-
Echo Show 15 — was $299.99, now $349.99 (+$50)
-
Echo Show 21 — was $399.99, now $499.99 (+$100)
-
eero 7 (3-pack) — was $349.99, now $399.99 (+$50)
-
eero Pro 7 (3-pack) — was $699.99, $799.99 (+$100)
Amazon is just the latest tech company to be impacted by the global memory crisis, following in the footsteps of Apple, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and more.
Amazon’s spokeswoman did tell Fortune that the retailer will continue to offer promotions across its lineup throughout the year, so consider waiting to purchase the affected devices until they go on sale. It will certainly be interesting to see how far their prices drop compared to years past during upcoming sales events like October’s Prime Big Deal Days and, of course, Black Friday.
