The shortage of memory chips resulting from the AI investment boom has impacted computer prices, as measured by the US Consumer Price Index (CPI). For only the second time in the last 15 years (with the first time being the height of the COVID-19 pandemic), computer prices are going up on a YoY basis.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes CPI statistics for hundreds of categories, and it includes more than 300 sub-indices, each with a weighting that indicates the importance of the sub-index to the overall economy. For example, food items comprise 14% of the CPI and gasoline 4%. The category labeled “Computers, peripherals, and smart home assistants” has a weighting of 0.301%, a bit higher than that of televisions, which have a weighting of only 0.105%. The BLS doesn’t break out the three different products included in the label, but we believe that personal computers (desktop, notebook and tablet) constitute the majority of the category, which we will hereafter call simply “computers”.