Something quietly weird is happening: gadget prices aren't falling anymore.
For decades, you could count on electronics getting cheaper. Moore's Law, global supply chains, competition — tech deflation was the one reliable trend. Wait a year, pay less, get more.
That's basically stopped. Phones, laptops, TVs — prices are sticky or rising. Even accounting for specs, the automatic price decline is gone.
Covid was the obvious exception (supply chains broke, chips vanished, everything spiked). But we're years past that now, and prices still aren't behaving like they used to.
Maybe it's tariffs. Maybe it's concentration (fewer players, less competition). Maybe marginal improvements cost more now. Maybe companies just realized consumers will pay.
Whatever it is, one of the most dependable disinflationary forces in the economy has quietly disappeared. And nobody seems to be talking about it.
For decades, you could count on electronics getting cheaper. Moore's Law, global supply chains, competition — tech deflation was the one reliable trend. Wait a year, pay less, get more.
That's basically stopped. Phones, laptops, TVs — prices are sticky or rising. Even accounting for specs, the automatic price decline is gone.
Covid was the obvious exception (supply chains broke, chips vanished, everything spiked). But we're years past that now, and prices still aren't behaving like they used to.
Maybe it's tariffs. Maybe it's concentration (fewer players, less competition). Maybe marginal improvements cost more now. Maybe companies just realized consumers will pay.
Whatever it is, one of the most dependable disinflationary forces in the economy has quietly disappeared. And nobody seems to be talking about it.