Tag: increase

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Intel may increase CPU prices as much as 20 percent later this year

Intel plans to increase the price of its CPUs and chips by as much as 20 percent, although the increase hasn’t been finalized.

According to a Nikkei report (via The Verge), the price increases will hit Intel’s flagship CPUs and a wide range of the company’s other chips, such as Wi-Fi and other connectivity. Intel reportedly already informed customers of price increases, and the change is expected to boost the cost of PCs and laptops during the holiday period.

Intel previously warned of price increases on its Q1 earnings call, suggesting it was looking at increases due to “inflationary pressures.” The Verge notes that increasing material, shipping, and labour costs are also factors.

However, the price increases come as the PC market sees a dip in shipments. The Verge cites a Gartner report that says global PC shipments dropped nearly 13 percent this quarter, the “sharpest decline in nine years.” Gartner cites inflation and a significant decrease in demand for Chromebooks.

The shift comes after the sector saw huge growth fueled by the pandemic and things like shifting to remote work. Gartner also points to significant declines in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), plus declines from companies pulling out of Russia amid the ongoing war with Ukraine.

At the same time, The Verge notes that the opposite seems to be happening with GPUs. The long-running GPU shortage has come to an end, thanks largely to the crypto crash. Crypto miners are offloading GPU cards that no longer make them a profit, and more units are available at stores now. Nvidia has even started bundling free games with some GPUs and offering discounts on others.

In other words, now might be a good time to buy if you’re looking to purchase or build a PC. Intel chip prices are about to go up, and GPU prices are down. That said, Nvidia may launch its new 40-series GPUs in the coming months, and Intel and AMD likely both have new CPUs coming soon. Waiting could be an option too if you’re willing to eat the higher cost of Intel’s CPUs just for the added performance of Nvidia’s new cards.

Header image source: Intel

Source: Nikkei, The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Amazon Prime just got more expensive for Canadians

After hiking the price of its Prime service in the U.S., Amazon’s upping Prime prices for Canadians.

According to a Canadian Press report published in the Toronto Star, Amazon’s Prime price will go up $2 to $9.99/mo. Customers who pay annually will see the price increase by $20 to $99/year.

Existing Prime users will see the price go up starting May 13th, while annual customers will see the increase on their next renewal. New customers looking to subscribe will already have to pay the higher costs.

Amazon Prime gives subscribers free shipping on several items, as well as access to things like the Amazon Prime Video streaming platform, and more. It’s worth noting Amazon also just raised the price of its music streaming service in Canada.

The Star notes that this is the first price increase for Prime since Amazon launched its membership in Canada in 2013.

MobileSyrup has reached out to Amazon Canada for more details about the impending increase.

Source: Toronto Star

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Mobile Syrup

Rogers ends several wireless promos, some plans increase by $5/mo

Toronto-based national telecom Rogers has ended several of its ongoing promotional offers, increasing the cost of some plans by $5/mo and offering less data with others.

First, Rogers’ base $85/mo plan lost its 15GB data bonus, going from 40GB to 25GB. It appears Rogers started offering the extra data in early March, but it’s not clear exactly when. This plan wasn’t marked as a limited-time offer like Rogers’ other plans.

Next up, Rogers’ increased the cost of its 45GB and 50GB plans by $5/mo. Rogers rolled out discounts for these plans on March 8th and both plans have sported limited-time labels since then. The plans now cost:

  • $95/mo for 45GB
  • $100/mo for 50GB, unlimited Canada-U.S. calling, texting, and data

Finally, Rogers still offers its $175/mo 100GB plan, although it appears unchanged.

Prior to the discounts rolled out in March, Rogers changed its $110/65GB plan to $100/50GB. In February, the company raised the prices of its plans across the board.

At the time of publication, Bell and Telus hadn’t changed their plan offerings. Both carriers offered $85/25GB and $100/50GB plans. Telus also has a $90/40GB plan, while Bell has a $95/45GB plan. You can check out Telus’ plans here and Bell’s plans here.

Rogers’ plans are available here.

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Mobile Syrup

Elon Musk tweets Tesla FSD price will increase to $12,000 but only in U.S.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is back on Twitter again, this time to announce that the company will raise the price of its ‘Full Self-Driving’ (FSD) software to $12,000 on January 17th.

Thankfully, the price hike will not impact Canadians — Musk followed up his original tweet noting the change was “Just in the US.” It’s somewhat surprising, given the similarity in the package’s pricing between the countries — U.S. customers currently pay $10,000 USD for FSD while Canadians pay $10,600 CAD ($10,000 USD is worth about $12,645 CAD).

Regardless, it’s good news for any prospective Tesla customers in Canada (and bad news for any U.S.-based Tesla customers). Still, Musk does have a tendency to change pricing on a whim. In October, Tesla hiked the price of its supposedly more affordable Model 3 by almost $3,400 over two weeks, bringing that car to just $10 shy of the federal EV rebate limit of $55,000 (once you factor out fees for delivery, air conditioning and other items).

Tesla also upped the price of its Model Y in October 2021 and in 2020, dropped the price of the Model S in Canada after Musk changed the price to $69,420 in the U.S. (The Model S price has changed since thanks in part to the release of the ‘Plaid‘ version.)

Musk followed up his FSD price increase tweet by noting that the FSD price would continue to rise as the company gets closer to the “production code release.” That likely means Canadians will see the FSD price increase in the future, even if the price isn’t changing at the moment.

It’s worth noting that the FSD software is still in beta despite Musk’s various promises over the years that it would be available by now (The Verge notes that Musk said FSD would exit beta in 2018 and in 2019 said it’d be on “over a million cars” in 2020).

We’re in 2022 now and over the last few months, the FSD beta has drawn increased scrutiny and criticism from regulators and reporters. Concerns stem from the decision to let regular people beta-test the FSD software — reasonable, considering people keep posting videos of them misusing the software. There are also concerns with how Tesla represents FSD, with some calling the full self-driving name misleading.

Source: Elon Musk (Twitter) Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Tesla hikes Model 3 price in Canada again, now costs $56,380

Tesla has hiked Model 3 prices in Canada again.

The change was spotted by Ben Si in the Tesla Model 3 Canadian Group on Facebook (via Tesla North), which saw the entry Model 3 Standard Range Plus in Pearl White Multi-Coat with 18-inch Aero Wheels jump from $54,990 to $56,380 in Canada (an increase of $1,390). Further, delivery dates for the cheapest Model 3 now show September 2022.

Tesla North notes the price hike comes roughly two weeks after Tesla increased the Model 3 price from $52,990 to $54,990. All told, Tesla has increased the cost of the Model by $3,390 in roughly 14 days.

Further, when you take out the $1,280 delivery fee, $100 air conditioning fee and $10 OMVIC fee, the new Tesla Model 3 price sits just $10 below the federal EV rebate limit of $55,000.

Unfortunately, the Model 3 isn’t the only Tesla vehicle to see significant price increases in Canada over the last few months. Tesla also recently increased the cost of the Model Y by $4,000.

Source: Ben Si (Facebook) Via: Tesla North