Memory crisis: Microsoft significantly increases prices for Surface devices
Ahead of the expected introduction of new Surface devices, Microsoft has noticeably increased prices for the current portfolio. The RRP is now being exceeded.
(Image: Microsoft)
Due to the memory crisis, Microsoft is now also increasing the prices of its in-house Surface devices – and in some cases quite significantly. While the price for the 12-inch Surface Pro with a 256 GB SSD had fallen from 979 euros at its introduction to 759 euros recently, Microsoft is now demanding a proud 1149 euros for it – almost 200 euros more than a year ago. For the Surface Laptop with a 15-inch display and the best equipment, the price has now risen from an interim 1875 euros to 3119 euros, 550 euros more than the recommended retail price from a year ago. To US media, Microsoft attributed the sometimes drastic price increases to recent cost increases for memory and other components.
Price crisis puts the entire market under pressure
The reason for the crisis in the memory market is the huge demand from hyperscalers for their AI data centers. The concept of supply and demand is practically being undermined: Normally, demand for components would long since have decreased due to high prices, which would have brought prices back into balance. However, hyperscalers are currently buying up everything that is available, regardless of the cost. At the same time, it takes years for memory manufacturers to complete the construction of new plants and start series production. The entire PC and smartphone market is now suffering from this, but devices with low margins are particularly affected.
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With the price increase for the Surface devices, Microsoft now only offers the Surface Go 4 for Business for less than 1000 euros in its portal; otherwise, only some refurbished Surface devices fall below this limit. Meanwhile, Apple released the MacBook Neo for around 700 euros just a few weeks ago, putting enormous pressure on the market. The competition was apparently caught off guard by this and has recently asked for time to react. Microsoft's sometimes massive price increase was certainly not intended this way, but according to Bloomberg, it could prepare the market for upcoming successors, which are likely to be introduced at comparable prices. Microsoft's Surface devices are currently available from various retailers at a lower price than from the manufacturer.
(mho)
