- The Rog Xbox Ally X has been hit with a $200 price hike in Japan.
- The faster of the two handheld models now retails for ¥169,800 ($1106), compared to its original cost of ¥139,800 ($911).
- On the other hand, the Rog Xbox Ally, which has slower RAM, has stayed the same in value.
Thanks to the surge in memory prices caused by the AI boom, purchasing gaming components has become akin to buying gold. Consoles have been no strangers to this problem, with giants like Sony now contemplating a delay to their next-generation models due to the current market conditions.
Even though gaming consoles haven’t seen a massive surge in cost so far, the effects of the memory crisis are starting to show, with consoles like the Steam Deck going out of stock. As it turns out, the Rog Xbox Ally X, another handheld on the market, is also feeling the impact and has increased $200 in price in Japan.
Why It Matters: A handheld like the Rog Xbox Ally X seeing such a massive surge in cost could be a worrying sign for the future, and may lead to a similar increase in console prices.
On the official Asus website in Japan, the Rog Xbox Ally X is now retailing for ¥169,800 ($1106), a whopping $200 hike in price compared to its launch value of ¥139,800 ($911). Interestingly, the Rog Xbox Ally hasn’t budged at all, staying at its original retail cost of ¥89,800 ($585).
Asus hasn’t given any official reason for this price hike, but one can only assume it’s due to the rising costs of memory. The Xbox Ally X handheld contains a 24GB LPDDR5X-8000 RAM compared to the 16GB LPDDR5-6400 RAM that the more primitive model offers.
Hence, when you add the 1TB storage of the Xbox Ally X to the mix, it’s unsurprising that the handheld has been hit with a massive increase in price.
No cost surges have been announced for other regions as of now, but with the memory crisis not looking any better, the new cost could translate into other countries.
Do you think this increase in cost is fair, or is the $200 hike a bit too much for consumers? Tell us in the comments below or head to the Tech4Gamers forum for discussion.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devotedly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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