We've seen similar increases from other tech companies like Apple and Kobo, both of which raised prices this summer. Amazon declined to comment to WIRED as to why it made these price hikes, but one Amazon spokesperson commented to CNET that it was due to rising prices in memory and storage components. It's still hard not to feel like companies are raising prices simply because they can—and as a way to make upcoming Prime Day and Black Friday sales look better than they really are.
The new prices spread across all of Amazon's hardware categories, hitting its Kindle e-readers, Echo smart speakers, Eero routers, and Fire TV devices—especially the more affordable and popular products in those categories. In fact, many devices are already “on sale,” but the sale prices are around what used to be the base price. That means discounts will look good this holiday season, but you'll just be paying what the item used to cost a couple of months ago.
Here are all of the price changes on Amazon's devices, and my run-down on which devices remain a good buy. New Kindle Prices If you're looking for a Kindle, all of these models have faced a price increase of at least $30, if not more. Amazon Kindle (2024, 11th Gen): $150 (up $40) Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024, 12th Gen): $200 (up $40) Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature (2024, 12th Gen): $250 (up $50) Amazon Kindle Colorsoft: $290 (up $40) Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Signature: $320 (up $40) Amazon Kindle Kids (2024, 2nd Gen): $180 (up $50) Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Kids: $300 (up $30) The only category untouched is, interestingly enough, the more powerful of Amazon's e-reader and digital notebook devices: the Kindle Scribe line.
All of the Kindle Scribe models currently available (both the second and third gen, and the color version) have remained the same price-wise. You'd think those would have risen too since the price hikes are supposedly due to storage and memory costs, but it's Amazon's e-reader-only devices that all increased in price instead. New Echo Prices Many Amazon Echo speakers also raised in price, going up by anywhere from $10 to $100.
The larger price increases are for the Echo Show devices, which come with a screen. Echo Dot (5th Gen): $80 (up $30) Echo Spot (2nd Gen): $110 (up $30) Echo Dot Max: $120 (up $20) Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen): $100 (up $10) Echo Show 8 (4th Gen): $200 (up $20) Echo Show 11: $250 (up $30) Echo Show 15: $350 (up $50) Echo Show 21: $500 (up $100) Interestingly enough, Amazon already has many of these speakers “on sale” for around their old sticker price; the Echo Dot is a “deal” for $55 right now when it was $50 as recently as August 20, and the Echo Dot Max is “on sale” for $95 after costing $100 on August 20 as well. These current prices are likely Labor Day sales, and might be the same pricing we see come fall sale events, too.
But not all Echo devices went up in price. The fairly new second-gen Echo Studio still has the same $220 price tag it did when it launched, and is also on sale already for Labor Day (catch it for $195 right now). You'll also find the older Echo Show 8 that I like stuck to its $150 price point.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
