Amazon Raises Prices on Echo, Fire TV, Kindle, and eero

Amazon has implemented price increases across a range of its first-party hardware devices, including Echo smart speakers, Fire TV streaming devices, Kindle e-readers, and eero mesh Wi-Fi systems. These adjustments, which took effect overnight, mark Amazon as the latest major technology company to pass on increased costs to consumers, driven by significant rises in memory and storage component expenses. The company confirmed the price hikes, stating that the consumer electronics industry is "facing significant increases in memory and storage component costs" and that Amazon had "absorb[ed] these increases for as long as we could." A spokeswoman for Amazon indicated that the company aims to continue offering products at accessible prices and plans to provide promotions throughout the year.

Specific price adjustments detailed by Fortune include the base Echo Dot increasing from $49.99 to $79.99, and the Echo Show 11 rising from $219.99 to $249.99. Kindle devices also saw notable increases, with the 16-gigabyte Kindle model moving from $109.99 to $149.99, and the 16-gigabyte Kindle Paperwhite increasing from $159.99 to $199.99. In the Fire TV line, the Fire TV Stick HD model's price went up from $34.99 to $39.99, while the Fire TV Stick 4K Max saw a larger jump from $59.99 to $84.99. For its networking products, the Amazon eero 7 wireless mesh system increased from $349.99 to $399.99, and the eero Pro 7 rose from $699.99 to $799.99. Notably, Amazon did not adjust prices for its Ring products.

These price hikes are occurring within a broader industry trend where companies are contending with a global shortage of memory chips. This shortage is exacerbated by immense demand for computing power required for artificial intelligence development and deployment. Earlier in June, Apple also raised prices on its Mac and iPad lines, with CEO Tim Cook describing the situation as a "100-year flood on memory pricing." Similarly, Microsoft announced recent price increases for its Xbox game consoles, ranging from $100 to $150 depending on the version, and discontinued the sale of Xbox consoles with 2 terabytes of memory, its highest-end configuration. The Pocket-lint website had previously reported on some of the Fire TV price increases before Fortune's comprehensive review.