European here. I’m pretty content with my setup (Ryzen5 3600XT, 16GB RAM, GTX 1060… I play in 1080p) for the games I’m playing at the moment, and I don’t plan on playing many AAAA games in the future. BUT. With the recent tariffs flying around, China denying rare earths, etc etc I fear we might see an increase in hardware prices like we had with covid, so I was thinking on upgrading at least CPU+VGA; more than FOMO let’s say is Fear Of Being Overpriced. What do you think, should I upgrade now that things looks a little more relaxed? Will the whole mess involve only the USA or everyone cause globalization?
The console manufacturers will raise prices globally to cushion against the US tariffs, because the calculus is that by keeping the costs low for the US - they can make up the difference with game sales over the console’s lifetime.
I think something similar will happen to smart phones and tablets also, because of the trailing revenue.
Hardware like CPUs and GPUs lack that additional revenue stream, so it will depend on if AMD & nVidia determine it’s better to push the tariffs exclusivity onto US consumers, or spread them out globally and dampen the impact.