Acer’s chairman predicts a prolonged period of elevated PC costs extending into 2027, as demand for memory and core components driven by AI infrastructure continues to push prices higher, with expected improvements only in the second half of that year.
Acer’s chairman has suggested that the sharp rise in PC pricing may not reverse until the second half of 2027, as demand from AI infrastructure continues to absorb memory and other core components. That would leave buyers of gaming machines and other consumer systems facing a long stretch of elevated costs, even if the most acute shortages are beginning to ease. According to coverage by VideoCardz of remarks originally reported in the Taiwanese press, Jason Chen said average PC prices are still likely to climb before they peak around mid-2027.
Chen’s comments point to another difficult period for buyers in the near term. Reports from multiple outlets carrying his remarks indicate he expects end-user PC prices to rise by about 5% to 20% in the fourth quarter of 2026, depending on system configuration and memory content. He also suggested that memory and SSD pricing remains high, even if supply is no longer as constrained as it was earlier in the year.
The pressure is being driven by the same industrial shift that has distorted much of the PC market in 2026. Memory makers have redirected capacity towards high bandwidth memory for AI accelerators, while consumer-grade parts have become more expensive as a result. That has been especially visible in high-end graphics cards, where products with larger memory pools have proved attractive for AI workloads as well as gaming. Industry reporting has pointed to the RTX 5090 as an example of a flagship part whose pricing has been pushed up more sharply than the rest of the line-up.
Chen’s longer-term view is more optimistic, but only gradually so. He expects additional memory production capacity to come on stream during 2027, which could allow prices to soften in the second half of that year. Even so, the impact is unlikely to be immediate for buyers, because retail pricing usually lags component costs. For now, lower-cost and mid-range PCs are more likely to benefit first, while premium gaming systems may remain expensive for longer.
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