Microsoft has announced a third price adjustment for its current-generation Xbox game consoles, highlighting the impact of the persistent component shortage crisis that has driven up the costs of technology products globally.
Starting August 1, Xbox Series consoles will be increased by US$100 for models with 512 gigabytes of storage and US$150 for 1 terabyte versions. In addition, the company will discontinue its old larger capacity option, the 2 terabytes.
In a statement on the Xbox news blog, the company explained the decision. “We hoped that a new price increase would not be necessary and have spent the last few months working with suppliers on alternatives”, he detailed. “Unfortunately, storage and memory prices for consoles have increased more than 2.5x, and we expect them to double again by fall 2027.”
Rising component costs don’t just affect Microsoft. Recently, Apple also announced price adjustments for most of its products, with the exception of the iPhone line. The technology giant justified the changes by high demand for memory, solid-state drives (SSDs) and other items that are being purchased in large volumes by artificial intelligence companies, exacerbating the shortage.
The gaming hardware sector has been feeling the pressure of price increases heavily over the past two years. Microsoft had already adjusted the values for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles in May 2025 and, later, in October of the same year.
With the new pricing structure, the standard Xbox Series
The Xbox division highlighted that, unlike many other consumer goods, video game consoles are often sold for below their manufacturing cost, which makes component cost pressures even more impactful on final consumer pricing.