Manufacturers in Taiwan face another round of price increases in the third quarter due to rising Windows licence fees and hardware costs, impacting retail prices amid global supply chain pressures.
Windows PCs in Taiwan are set for another round of price rises in the third quarter as manufacturers face higher component costs and a reported increase in the fees Microsoft charges computer makers for pre-installed licences, according to Economic Daily News, which is published by United Daily News. The paper said the change is already feeding through into retail pricing, with some vendors expecting additional adjustments before the quarter ends.
An executive at one PC brand, speaking anonymously to the Taiwanese newspaper, said OEM Windows licence fees rose by an average of 7% to 10% from July. That would be a sharper increase than in previous years. Other manufacturers told UDN that the impact is uneven and depends on the processor inside the machine, with higher-end systems likely to absorb larger increases than lower-spec models.
Asus and Acer have both indicated that prices in Taiwan could climb by about 5% or by a low single-digit percentage in the third quarter. The importance of the licence increase is that most laptops and desktops are sold with Windows already installed, so even modest changes to software costs can affect the final price of a finished device.
The pressure is arriving alongside higher prices for RAM, SSDs and processors, as demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure continues to squeeze supply chains. Windows Central reported that Microsoft’s consumer licence prices remain unchanged, and Microsoft declined to comment when asked. The broader picture is that PC buyers are facing a combination of software and hardware inflation, not just a single price shock.
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