TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Asus forecast that laptop prices in Taiwan could rise by up to 30% in the second quarter due to higher memory costs and CPU shortages, with increases likely to continue into the second half of this year, CNA reported.

At a Monday press conference, ASUS unveiled its Zenbook A16 AI laptop, powered by a Qualcomm processor capable of handling 80 trillion AI operations per second. The notebook features a 16-inch display and targets the high-end market.

Asus also showcased other AI laptops using Qualcomm processors designed for students and content creators. Qualcomm Vice President ST Liew (劉思泰) said the company will continue working with Asus to launch AI laptops with stronger computing performance and longer battery life.

Jose Liao (廖逸翔), Asus Systems Business general manager, said some laptop models have seen price increases since the first quarter. He explained that shortages of memory and hard drives have caused these price hikes.

Last year, a 32GB memory module cost around NT$3,000 (US$95), but Liao said it could jump to nearly NT$20,000 in the second quarter. He added that Intel and AMD CPUs are in short supply, further increasing laptop production costs.

Liao said that despite rising laptop prices, demand remains strong, with customers requesting earlier deliveries and boosting shipments in the first and second quarters. He expects Asus laptop sales in Taiwan to rise 10% year-on-year in the first half of this year.

Liao noted the company plans to expand its presence in AI laptops. With growing demand for generative AI, laptops using Advanced RISC Machine processors can operate efficiently and minimize heat generation, allowing them to be thinner while still handling high-performance AI computing.

Liao added that AI laptops make up about 30% of Taiwan’s laptop market. As AI features continue to expand, they are expected to drive upgrade demand, potentially raising market share to 40% by the end of this year.