In August 2026, the personal computer market faced unprecedented pressure from manufacturers. While consumers previously complained about a shortage of "hardware" and rising prices for processors and graphics cards, the software component has now been added to the factors driving inflation. Microsoft, the largest supplier of operating systems, has decided to revise its pricing policy for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM).
New Microsoft pricing policy: tied to processor power
According to United Daily News, since July 2026, the average cost of Windows OEM licenses has increased by 7–10%. This is not just a linear tariff increase but a change in the pricing structure itself. Now, the cost of the license depends directly on the specifications of the central processing unit (CPU) installed in the computer. The more powerful the chip, the higher the price of the operating system for the manufacturer.
Although Microsoft regularly reviews its rates, the current move is one of the most significant in recent times. Previously, increases usually stayed within single-digit percentages, but the current market situation has forced the corporation to take more decisive measures. For PC manufacturers, this means that margins on powerful gaming and workstations are significantly reduced, which inevitably gets passed on to the end consumer.
The domino effect: AI industry and component shortage
Microsoft chose an extremely unfortunate time for the price hike from the manufacturers' perspective. The market is already experiencing an acute shortage of memory, SSD drives, and processors. The main reason lies in the artificial intelligence boom: the AI industry is consuming huge volumes of semiconductor products, crowding out consumer electronics manufacturers from the market.
Prices for key components are already rising, forcing buyers to pay more for every gigabyte of memory and processor clock cycle. Now, rising software costs are added to the rising "hardware" prices. Experts expect that in the third quarter of 2026, final PC prices could increase by another approximately 5% due to these factors alone.
Manufacturer reaction: ASUS and Acer warn of price hikes
Major market players have already begun preparing for another wave of inflation. Companies ASUS and Acer have officially warned of further price increases on their products in the current quarter. The situation vividly demonstrates how quickly economic reality changes: ASUS computers have already increased in price by an average of about 30% compared to the fourth quarter of 2025.
Such a price jump threatens demand. Against the backdrop of shrinking PC shipments, the situation looks increasingly worrying: hardware is getting more expensive, Windows is getting more expensive, and buyers' desire to purchase a new computer at such a pace may disappear before the component shortage is overcome. Manufacturers fear that the market may enter a period of stagnation if prices continue to rise at an accelerating rate.
Contradictory data
There are discrepancies in estimates of the scale of the price increase. According to United Daily News, the increase in license costs is 7–10%. However, market analysts note that for the high-performance PC (High-End) segment, the actual increase could be higher, as Microsoft's new calculation formula focuses on powerful processors, which are significantly more expensive than basic versions. At the same time, some manufacturers are trying to cushion the blow using their own stockpiles, so not all models have received a price increase yet, creating a gap in the perception of the situation across different markets.
