- The price of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X has gone up in Japan and Australia, amid a RAM crisis
- The handheld’s price appears to be gradually increasing across multiple regions
- Neither Asus nor Microsoft has confirmed why the price increases have occurred
The ongoing RAM crisis is taking the entire PC hardware market by storm, with prices skyrocketing and manufacturers being forced to rethink their launch strategies, especially Valve and its Steam Machine – and we may already be looking at the next victim.
As reported by PC Gamer, the price of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X in Australia has increased by AU$200, from its original AU$1,599 ($999 / £799) retail price, to AU$1,799. This is very similar to the recent price increase in Japan of ¥30,000, which puts the handheld’s price at ¥169,800 for consumers.
Neither Microsoft nor Asus have confirmed why these price increases have happened, but it’s worth noting that the lower-end ROG Xbox Ally is still at its original price in both Australia and Japan, which has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
Meanwhile, the Ally X has 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, and based on these specs, we can deduce that the reason for the price hike in both regions is likely due to memory and storage shortages.
Valve is the latest to be hit by the shortage, with the Steam Deck OLED now intermittently sold out in multiple regions. We’ve also seen Sony reportedly postponing the launch of the PS6 until 2029, while Nintendo is considering a Switch 2 price hike, all of which are a result of the RAM crisis.
It’s no coincidence then that the price of the ROG Xbox Ally X has suddenly increased in Australia and Japan in the same week, especially for the model that uses more RAM and storage. These higher tier components will naturally be more sought after by both consumers and AI data centers and are more expensive for manufacturers to produce due to the shortage in the PC hardware market.
Unfortunately, that brings potential bad news for other regions outside of Japan and Australia.
Price increases in other regions beckon
PC hardware has seen price increases across the board since the start of 2026, and the impact from the memory and storage shortages seems to be hitting multiple regions at a breakneck pace with no sign of stopping.
I’m willing to bet that other regions are next in line for ROG Xbox Ally X price hikes, and these issues may well last throughout 2026 as the AI bubble (which is why RAM kits are so expensive now) continues to grow.
The RAM crisis also has the potential to encourage scalpers, especially with upcoming and current systems such as the Steam Machine or Steam Deck OLED respectively, as the latter is still in stock in the UK and other regions. The crisis is a messy situation for all businesses, producers and consumers, which seems to be getting worse every day with new reports of production stoppages, unprecedented price increases and shortages.
The sooner the AI bubble bursts and the shortage is not so widespread, the more stable the market will become – but judging from the current situation, it won’t happen anytime soon.
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