Roku is hiking its streaming stick prices by up to 60 percent, much to the chagrin of bargain hunters. The company has doubled down on its new prices despite still selling at older rates, revealing that a simple upgrade now comes with hefty premiums.
The increase extends from the basic Roku Streaming Stick to the top-of-the-line Roku Ultra, and even a bundle deal is now much more expensive. When shopping online, customers are limited to just three of each model per purchase, adding a layer of complexity to the buying process.
The executive cited by The Desk suggests this price hike is due to component shortages from the AI boom. But it’s a stark contrast to May when Roku’s CEO Anthony Wood praised the memory shortage as beneficial for their low-cost devices. Now, with AI and other tech pushing up prices, maybe Roku should focus on software upgrades instead of hardware.
Other retailers are likely to continue offering these devices at lower prices until stocks run out, providing a brief reprieve from the price hike. However, it’s clear that tech innovation is now coming with a hefty financial cost for consumers.
