2026年6月26日 / 美国东部时间下午4:11 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
经历了数十年的成本下滑后，从电脑到视频游戏主机等各类消费电子产品价格正在上涨，人工智能热潮引发了全球内存和存储芯片短缺。
“绝大多数芯片都流向了AI基建和我们正在见证的数据中心革命，”韦德布什证券公司分析师丹·艾夫斯在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时表示。“这意味着可供这些普通消费设备使用的芯片更少了，只会进一步推高价格。”
周四，苹果和微软双双宣布上调核心产品价格，包括iPad、部分MacBook机型和Xbox主机，原因是芯片需求强劲推高了电子元件成本。市场研究机构国际数据公司（IDC）的分析师表示，苹果还可能提高iPhone售价以抵消不断上涨的制造成本。
IDC分析师纳比拉·波帕尔称，苹果此次涨价幅度超出了她的预期。这意味着iPhone的涨价幅度可能也会高于预期，iPhone Pro和Pro Max机型的涨价幅度或高达200美元。
“我认为50美元的涨价幅度已经成为过去式了，”她说道。
此次科技产品价格上涨不同寻常，因为自20世纪80年代以来，个人电脑和其他个人电子产品的成本总体上一直在下降。最新的政府通胀数据显示，过去一年里计算机软件及配件价格飙升超过14%。包括平板电脑、智能家居助手和电脑硬件在内的个人电脑相关产品价格上涨了1.3%。
芯片短缺背后的原因是什么？
全球三大内存芯片制造商——美光科技、三星电子和SK海力士——历来都为智能手机等设备以及汽车等其他消费品生产半导体。
但如今这些芯片制造商正竞相满足 Alphabet、亚马逊、Meta、甲骨文以及其他科技巨头的激增需求，这些企业被称为“超大规模运营商”，它们需要为数千座数据中心配备内存芯片，以提供各类人工智能服务。
“基本上我们现在面临的情况是，这些超大规模运营商开始以溢价买下供应商的全部产能，”IDC数据与分析副总裁弗朗西斯科·杰罗尼莫在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时表示。
过去，美光、SK海力士和三星的大部分芯片生产都集中在所谓的DRAM和NAND半导体上，这是智能手机、个人电脑和其他电子设备中使用的标准内存芯片。但如今半导体制造商正投入更多资源生产用于数据中心内存的所谓高带宽内存（HBM）芯片。
杰罗尼莫表示，对半导体制造商而言，生产HBM芯片比生产个人设备使用的芯片利润更高。他补充道，制造商们实际上都在说：“既然未来多年都有这么大的商机，我们何必再为智能手机、个人电脑或其他设备生产和销售内存呢？”
例如，总部位于爱达荷州博伊西的芯片制造商美光科技去年完全放弃了消费芯片生产，并将这一决定称为应对人工智能增长带来的激增需求的必要举措。
杰罗尼莫表示，随着人工智能需求上升导致内存和存储供应缩减，芯片价格已经上涨，促使苹果和微软等企业将这些成本转嫁给消费者，他将当前的芯片短缺描述为“比疫情期间工厂停工造成的供应中断严重得多”。
“已经没有库存了，”他说。“他们购买的每一款内存芯片，价格都比6个月或12个月前高出100%至200%。”
韦德布什证券公司估计，科技公司的内存芯片订单量是现有芯片供应量的15倍。
与此同时，由于制造商的生产能力有限，以及建造半导体晶圆厂的巨额成本——单座工厂造价可达100亿美元，且最多需要五年时间才能完工——增加芯片供应难度极大。
“你不可能打个响指就能变出更多内存芯片，”艾夫斯说道。
芯片短缺可能持续多久？
科技分析师和经济学家预测，由于扩建或新建工厂需要时间，芯片短缺至少将持续到2027年，甚至更久。
与此同时，消费者可以预见价格将持续上涨。
科技研究公司高德纳预测，由于芯片成本上升，今年个人电脑和智能手机的价格较2025年水平可能分别上涨17%和13%。
杰罗尼莫表示，价格上涨可能会导致消费者更久地更换现有设备，从而打击智能手机销量。
艾夫斯建议消费者在价格进一步上涨前尽快购买下一款电子设备。
“我们将持续看到价格上涨……尤其是在即将到来的假日购物季，”他在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时说道。
本文编辑：阿兰·谢特
Gadget prices have fallen for decades. Then AI happened.
June 26, 2026 / 4:11 PM EDT / CBS News
After decades of declining costs, consumer electronics ranging from computers to video game consoles are jumping in price as the artificial intelligence boom drives a global shortage of memory and storage chips.
“The vast majority of the chips are going to the AI buildout and the data center revolution we’re seeing,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told CBS News. “That’s [fewer] chips for these regular consumer devices. That just further drives up prices.”
On Thursday, Apple and Microsoft each said they were hiking prices on core products, including iPads, certain MacBook models and Xbox consoles, as strong demand for chips drives up the cost of electronic device components. Apple could also raise iPhone prices to offset rising manufacturing costs, according to analysts at market researcher International Data Corporation (IDC).
IDC analyst Nabila Popal said Apple’s price hikes were higher than she had expected. That suggests any iPhone price increases may also be higher than expected, perhaps as much as $200 for the iPhone Pro and Pro Max models.
“I think the days of $50 price increases are over,” she said.
The rise in gadget prices is unusual, as the cost of personal computers and other personal electronics has generally fallen since the 1980s. The latest government inflation data show that prices for computer software and accessories have surged by more than 14% over the last year. Personal computers, such as tablets, home assistants and computer hardware, are up 1.3%.
What’s behind the chip shortage?
The three biggest memory chip manufacturers — Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix — have historically produced semiconductors for devices such as smartphones and for other consumer products such as cars.
But those chipmakers are now racing to meet surging demand from Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Oracle and other tech giants — dubbed “hyperscalers” — that need memory chips for the thousands of data centers they are building to provide a range of AI services.
“Basically, we ended up with a situation where those companies, the hyperscalers, started buying the entire capacity from those suppliers” at premium prices, Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for data and analytics at IDC, told CBS News.
Historically, most of Micron, SK and Samsung’s chip production focused on churning out so-called DRAM and NAND semiconductors, the standard memory chips used in smartphones, PCs and other electronics. But semiconductor manufacturers are now devoting more resources to producing so-called high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used to provide memory for data centers.
For semiconductor makers, HBM chips are more profitable to produce than those used in personal devices, Jeronimo said. Manufacturers effectively said, “What is the point of selling and making memory for smartphones or PCs or any other device when we have this huge opportunity for many years to come?” he added.
Last year, for example, Boise, Idaho-based chipmaker Micron Technology abandoned consumer chip production altogether, framing the decision as a necessary move to meet surging demand tied to AI growth.
As memory and storage supply shrinks amid rising AI demand, chip prices have risen, spurring companies like Apple and Microsoft to pass those costs onto consumers, Jeronimo said, describing the current chip shortage as “way worse” than the supply disruptions during the pandemic caused by factory closures.
“There’s no more stock,” he said. “Every single memory [chip] they buy, it costs 100% to 200% more than six or 12 months ago.”
Wedbush Securities estimates that there are 15 times as many memory chip orders from tech companies as there are available chips.
Meanwhile, boosting chip supplies is difficult due to manufacturers’ limited production capacity and the enormous expense of building semiconductor fabrication facilities, which can cost $10 billion and take up to five years to complete.
“You can’t just snap your fingers and release more memory chips,” Ives said.
How long could the chip shortage last?
Tech analysts and economists predict the chip shortage will persist at least through 2027 and perhaps later, citing the time required to expand or build new plants.
In the meantime, consumers can expect prices to continue rising.
Tech research firm Gartner forecasts that PC and smartphone prices could jump 17% and 13%, respectively, this year from their 2025 levels because of rising chip costs.
Higher prices could cause consumers to hold onto devices longer, denting smartphone sales, according to Jeronimo.
Ives advises consumers to buy their next electronic device now before prices rise further.
“We’re going to continue to see price increases…especially going into the holiday season,” he told CBS News.
Edited by Alain Sherter