AI Boom Drives Computer Equipment Price Gains to 44½-Year High

A surge in artificial intelligence computing and data-center construction has increased demand for memory, storage devices and other electronic components. Tight supply and demand have pushed upstream prices sharply higher since 2025, with the increases gradually feeding through to personal computers and peripherals. Taiwan’s Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said the increases have raised household spending on educational equipment, an important sign that the AI boom is spilling over into consumer prices.

The agency recently said higher prices for computers and peripherals had driven the increase in the educational equipment component of the consumer price index to a 44½-year high. The trend emerged gradually after prices for memory and other components rose in 2025. Computers carry a relatively low weighting in the CPI, however, so their impact on overall inflation remains limited.