The RAM in my desktop PC, which I bought in 2024 for about $200, is now worth almost a thousand bucks. The production shortage driven by “AI” data centers has affected memory, storage, and finished devices like laptops, desktops, phones, and tablets—with no end in sight until at least 2027. Pretty much anything with memory chips inside it is getting squeezed, and the humble Roku streaming gadgets are no exception.
Prices for all Roku streaming devices have been bumped up, from the ultra-basic Roku Streaming Stick all the way to the Roku Ultra and Roku Streambar SE. They’re all on sale at the “old” prices, so Roku is likely selling through current stock made with already-procured components.
Here are the prices compared to an Internet Archive version of the page from the start of July:
- Roku Streaming Stick:
$29.99$39.99 - Roku Streaming Stick Plus:
$39.99$59.99 - Roku Streaming Stick Plus (Fox One bundle)
$59.98$79.99 - Roku Streaming Stick 4K:
$49.99$79.99 - Roku Ultra:
$99.99$149.99 - Roku Streambar SE:
$99.99$149.99
The Stick 4K is getting the worst of it, with a 60 percent price increase. Prices on Roku-branded full TVs are harder to track, since the display panel will be the biggest part of their component production cost. Based on a random sampling and Amazon historical prices, it looks like Roku smart TVs haven’t been affected yet.
Streaming gadgets don’t need tons of hardware power—we’ve gotten really good at efficiently running apps and streaming video on Arm-based hardware, even in 4K. But the sticker shock is going to hurt folks who just want a cheap way to watch something on a screen and don’t like the spyware-infested OS that comes on their non-negotiable smart TVs. (Not that Roku is innocent there, as the once-beloved Roku system is now clogged up with ads and spyware, too.)
And yeah, this is because of the RAM crunch. TheDesk.net confirmed with a Roku executive that the price increases are because of “shortages in computer memory and other components caused by the artificial intelligence rush.” This is, in fact, why we can’t have nice things.
