Google has become the latest tech giant to raise prices across its consumer hardware to account for an ongoing component shortage spurred by the artificial intelligence craze.
Starting Monday, the cost of Google’s only streaming TV device, called the Google TV Streamer, is now $150, a 50 percent increase from its stable introductory price of $100.
The Google TV Streamer was already among the more-costly options on the streaming TV market, especially compared to budget-friendly devices like Amazon’s Fire TV sticks and similar devices from Roku.
Google is just the latest to raise prices due to the ongoing computer component shortage, with Roku, Apple and Amazon doing the same in recent weeks.
“We remain committed to providing our customers with industry-leading smart home security and continuous feature updates,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.
Many retailers have already adjusted the cost of the Google TV Streamer to match Google’s online store, with Best Buy, Lowe’s and B&H Photo now selling the streamer for $150. Only Walmart and Amazon were still offering the device at or around $100, according to a review of those websites by The Desk late Monday evening.
The global computer component shortage began late last year as semiconductor and memory manufacturers shifted their output to account for new demands brought on by artificial intelligence, including large customer purchase orders for related data centers.
Most industry analysts say the shortage is expected to continue through this year and for most of 2027 until new manufacturing facilities come online. Component prices are not expected to come down until late 2027 or early 2028, and consumer hardware prices are not likely to fall before then, either.
Micron, one of the world’s biggest suppliers of semiconductors, memory and solid state hard drives, is currently building a new $9 billion manufacturing plant for computer chips and related components and is expected to put the factory into use by mid-2028.
Other companies, including Google and Intel, are exploring ways to squeeze more performance and higher demand out of existing memory and component supplies by creating new algorithms and forms of compression technology, though their efforts have not been brought online just yet.
