As Computer Hardware Prices Climb, Buying Equipment Early is a Safe Choice

Over the last few years, we’ve seen some very significant price increases for computing hardware. Back in 2011, major floods in Thailand caused a hard drive shortage and caused prices to shoot upwards. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, work-from-home peripherals like webcams, headsets, and docking stations were sometimes hard to get and sold at a premium. When the crypto world started buying entire data centers of Nvidia GPUs, the cost of high-end PCs and gaming PCs started to skyrocket.

2025 in particular is going to be an interesting year when it comes to the cost of typical office hardware, and experts are urging that business owners get ahead of the game to avoid exceeding their projected budget.

Will Computer Prices Increase in 2025?

It’s already happening, and the experts predict it will continue. 

We brought this up back in January (and a few other times since). Between common, everyday inflation, the tariffs on international shipping, and a very unpredictable supply-and-demand stormfront that is always looming on the tech horizon, computing prices are increasing and are likely to continue doing so.

To make this a perfect storm, however, we need one more wrench to toss into the machinery. It might be a wrench that we’ve seen coming for a while, but it’s still going to catch many businesses off guard; Windows 10 is reaching end-of-life in October.

What Does the Windows 10 End-of-Life Mean for Small Business?

On October 14th, 2025, Microsoft will be ending all support and updates for the decade-old operating system. For late bloomers and those that drag their feet, you might be used to Windows continuing to work long after that end-of-life date. This time is different.

According to Microsoft, after October 14th, Microsoft 365 applications may stop working on Windows 10. If you use Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, or any other traditional Office application, it might not even launch after October 14th.

This is the first Microsoft end-of-life that truly could render older Windows PCs nearly inert, depending on the type of work that is done on them on a daily basis.

Can You Upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11?

The move from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is actually pretty fluid, as long as your hardware is new enough. Windows 11 requires a specific built-in component on your motherboard called TPM 2.0. It’s a hardware-level security mechanism that is designed to protect you if someone were to take apart your computer and try to access your data. 

There was plenty of controversy over TPM 2.0 being a hard requirement for Windows 11, especially since it only initially provides protection in some very specific situations, but down the road when every PC is using TPM 2.0, we should see a lot more ways that software takes advantage of the technology.

Unfortunately, if your hardware is a bit on the older side, it likely doesn’t have TPM built-in. The technology has been around since 2014, but it didn’t start seeing widespread inclusion in hardware until a few years later. Older hardware will either need an upgrade, or it will need to be replaced with something new in order to use Windows 11.

We can run an evaluation to let you know which devices on your network can make the cutover for Windows 11.

Why Windows 10's End-of-Life is Going to Make Things Worse

It’s supply and demand. Computer costs are already going up, but as we get closer to October, businesses are going to be scrambling to buy new hardware to ensure they can continue to work after October 14th. This could cause a shortage, or at the very least, cause prices to increase as demand outweighs the supply.

We can’t stress this enough—it’s a good idea to get your hardware early.

Now is the Time to Buy Your Computers, Servers, and Network Equipment, Instead of Waiting Later on This Year

Reach Out to Us to Help Expedite Your Upgrade Process

We want to help your business stay ahead of the issues that tariffs, potential and actual, could easily create for you, particularly in terms of your IT and its maintenance over time. Give us a call as soon as possible to get started at (774) 213-9701.