- Asus ROG Xbox Ally X price increased in Japan and Australia amid RAM crisis
- The price of the handheld appears to be gradually increasing in several regions
- Neither Asus nor Microsoft have confirmed why the price increases took place
The current RAM crisis is taking the entire PC hardware market by storm, with prices skyrocketing and manufacturers being forced to rethink their launch strategies, including Valve and its Steam Machine – and we may already be looking at the next victim.
As reported by PC Gamer, the price of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally This is very similar to the recent 30,000 yen price increase in Japan, which puts the price of the handheld at 169,800 yen for consumers.
Neither Microsoft nor Asus have confirmed the reason for these price increases, but it’s worth noting that the lower-tier ROG Xbox Ally is still at its original price in Australia and Japan, which includes 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space.
Meanwhile, the Ally
Valve is the latest to be hit by shortages, with the Steam Deck OLED now intermittently out of stock in several regions. We also saw that Sony will delay the launch of the PS6 to 2029, while Nintendo is considering a price increase for the Switch 2, all resulting from the RAM crisis.
It is therefore no coincidence that the price of the ROG Xbox Ally X suddenly increased in Australia and Japan during the same week, especially for the model using more RAM and storage. These higher-tier components will naturally be more sought after by both consumers and AI data centers, and will be more expensive for manufacturers to produce due to shortages in the PC hardware market.
Unfortunately, this could be bad news for other regions outside of Japan and Australia.
Price increases in other regions loom
Computer hardware has seen widespread price increases since the start of 2026, and the impact of memory and storage shortages appears to be hitting multiple regions at a breakneck pace, with no signs of stopping.
I’m willing to bet that other regions will be next to see price hikes on the ROG Xbox Ally
The RAM crisis also has the potential to encourage scalpers, especially with upcoming and current systems like the Steam Machine or Steam Deck OLED, respectively, as the latter is still in stock in the UK and other regions. The crisis is a complicated situation for all businesses, manufacturers and consumers, which seems to be getting worse every day with new reports of production shutdowns, unprecedented price increases and shortages.
The sooner the AI bubble bursts and shortages aren’t as widespread, the more stable the market will become – but judging by the current state of affairs, that won’t happen anytime soon.
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