Amazon raises Fire TV, Echo and Kindle prices by up to 60% citing memory shortage
Amazon has adjusted prices across its hardware lineup — including Fire TVs, Echos, Kindles and Eeros — by up to 60%.
Cover image: Amazon — Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Amazon raised the prices of its hardware devices by up to 60%, a move that immediately makes both entry-level options and higher-priced models more expensive. TechCrunch reports that price-tracking sites detected the increases in under 48 hours, and the company indicates the pressure stems from rising costs of memory and storage components.
Which products rose and examples of magnitude
The increases affected several product families: Fire TVs, Echos, Kindles and Eeros, according to TechCrunch. The price jumps hit both entry-level models and higher-end devices within those lines.
Price-tracking sites such as CamelCamelCamel showed the sharp rise over a short period. One example cited by the report is the Echo Dot, whose price went from $49.99 to $79.99 — a 60% increase in a short time.
The simultaneous recording across different models and in less than two days indicates a broad adjustment in the company's pricing policy, not isolated fluctuations in promotional items.
Why Amazon attributes the increases to a memory shortage
In a statement to TechCrunch, Amazon said that "the consumer electronics industry is facing significant increases in the costs of memory and storage components" and that it had been absorbing those increases until it decided to adjust its product prices.
The report refers to the phenomenon as "RAMmageddon", describing a global memory shortage driven by the AI boom that raises production costs for various electronic devices.
According to TechCrunch, this pressure on memory supply and prices is expected to persist through 2027, with prices possibly beginning to stabilize only in 2028 — a projection included in the publication's coverage.
Amazon itself also said it will maintain occasional promotions over the next year, suggesting temporary discount windows even with the new price levels.
Practical impacts for consumers and market signals
The direct effect for consumers is higher costs for devices that until now served as low-cost options for access to services and Amazon's ecosystem. Consequently, TechCrunch notes this is an unfavorable moment for prospective hardware buyers.
The report also places Amazon's move in the broader industry context: other companies have passed part of the cost increases on to customers, and Apple was cited as a recent example of a company that adjusted prices and sought to mitigate the impact with a device leasing program.
In short, the combination of manufacturers' price adjustments and the outlook of tight memory supply through 2027 indicates that price variations and new manufacturer measures are likely to continue in the coming months.
Sources consulted:
- TechCrunch — https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/24/amazon-hikes-hardware-prices-by-60-percent-blaming-memory-shortage/