{"slug": "roku-hikes-hardware-prices-by-up-to-60", "title": "Roku Hikes Hardware Prices by Up to 60%", "summary": "Roku is raising prices on its streaming players by up to 60%, with the Roku Streaming Stick 4K jumping from $50 to $80 and the Roku Ultra and Streambar SE rising from $100 to $150. The company blames the increases on a global memory-chip shortage driven by AI development, known as \"RAMageddon.\" Roku, recently acquired by Fox for $22 billion, lists current prices as \"limited time\" without specifying when new prices take effect.", "body_md": "Roku is increasing the cost of its popular [streaming players](https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/best-streaming-device/) by up to $50, with [one report](https://thedesk.net/2026/07/roku-raises-prices-memory-component-shortages-blamed/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_source_platform=mailpoet#google_vignette) suggesting that the AI-influenced “[RAMageddon](https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/tech-companies-are-freaking-out-about-ramageddon/)” is to blame.\n\nIn an unusual move, [Roku lists the existing prices on its website](https://www.roku.com/products/players) as “limited time,” but hasn’t specified when the new prices listed will kick in.\n\nThe biggest increases are for Roku’s flagship devices — the [Roku Ultra](https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/roku-ultra-2024-review-a-solid-remote-but-a-flagship-deserves-more/) and [Streambar SE](https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/roku-streambar-se-review-better-sound-than-i-expected-for-the-low-price/) — which will increase in price from $100 to $150. Meanwhile, the popular [Roku Streaming Stick 4K](https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/roku-streaming-stick-4k-review-small-refinements-to-a-winning-formula/) now costs 60% more, at $80.\n\nThe price changes are as follows:\n\nProduct | Old price | New price |\n| Roku Streaming Stick | $30 | $40 |\n| Roku Streaming Stick Plus | $40 | $60 |\n| Roku Streaming Stick 4K | $50 | $80 |\n| Roku Ultra | $100 | $150 |\n| Roku Streambar SE | $100 | $150 |\n\nIn my [review of the Roku Ultra](https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/roku-ultra-2024-review-a-solid-remote-but-a-flagship-deserves-more/), I call it “undoubtedly the best Roku yet,” though I identify the identically priced [Google Streamer](https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/google-tv-streamer-review-high-end-streaming-for-power-users/) as even better. But with a 50% cost increase, the Roku device now becomes less recommendable, and if you’re looking for a sub-$100 player, you should get the Google option while it stays at its current price.\n\nThe new prices follow an even more dramatic increase for the [Apple TV 4K](https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/apple-tv-4k-2022-review-excellent-streaming-but-still-too-expensive/), which went from $129 to $199, while the 128GB version will now cost $249. Apple also [blamed rising memory costs](https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/apple-price-increases-macbooks-ipads-blames-ram-shortage/) for its price hikes.\n\n[RAMageddon](https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/what-is-ramageddon-why-ai-is-making-laptops-and-phones-more-expensive/) refers to the global [memory-chip supply shortage](https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/memory-ram-shortage-2026-f55324b0) caused by the rapid development of memory-intensive artificial intelligence tools, which has pushed up the price of laptops, [phones](https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/global-ram-shortage-will-raise-smartphone-prices-in-2026-analysts-say-but-how-much/), graphics cards and other devices.\n\nRoku is the most popular streaming platform, with up to [100 million streaming](https://newsroom.roku.com/news/2026/04/roku-surpasses-100-million-streaming-households-a-historic-milestone/cbdb6hs7-1776191291) households, and the company was recently [acquired by Fox for $22 billion](https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/fox-to-acquire-roku-22-billion/).\n\nRepresentatives for Roku did not immediately respond to a request for comment.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/roku-hikes-hardware-prices-by-up-to-60", "canonical_source": "https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/roku-hardware-prices-rise-ramageddon/", "published_at": "2026-07-24 21:03:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-24 22:06:00.343011+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-chips", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["Roku", "Roku Ultra", "Roku Streaming Stick 4K", "Roku Streambar SE", "Apple TV 4K", "Fox", "Google Streamer"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/roku-hikes-hardware-prices-by-up-to-60", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/roku-hikes-hardware-prices-by-up-to-60.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/roku-hikes-hardware-prices-by-up-to-60.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/roku-hikes-hardware-prices-by-up-to-60.jsonld"}}