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Asus has increased the price of the ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gaming PC in Japan by almost $200.

When the devices first launched in Japan, the standard Xbox Ally cost ¥89,800 (about $585). The higher-end Xbox Ally X cost ¥139,800 (about $913).

Now, according to Otaku Souken, the price of the standard Xbox Ally has not changed. However, the Xbox Ally X now costs ¥169,800 (about $1,109) on the official Asus website. This is a price increase of ¥30,000 (about $196).

Asus has not officially explained the reason for the price increase. However, many believe it is related to the rising cost and shortage of fast memory and storage components.

There is an important hardware difference between the two models. The standard Xbox Ally includes 16GB of LPDDR5-6400 RAM and 512GB of storage. The Xbox Ally X includes 24GB of faster LPDDR5X-8000 RAM and 1TB of storage.

Because the Xbox Ally X uses faster and more advanced memory, which is currently in high demand, this may explain why only the more expensive model received a price increase.

At this time, similar price increases have not been announced in other regions. The current prices outside Japan remain the same as launch prices. The Xbox Ally costs $599 / £499, and the Xbox Ally X costs $999 / £799.

This situation comes during a wider hardware supply issue. Earlier this week, Valve announced that Steam Deck, a main competitor to the ROG Xbox Ally devices, would be “out-of-stock intermittently in some regions due to memory and storage shortages”.

The shortage of RAM has become a serious issue for the technology industry. Memory components are becoming harder to obtain, and prices have increased sharply. Because of this, many companies are reviewing their product plans. Higher production costs mean profit margins are getting smaller, and in some cases may disappear.

The ROG Xbox Ally X and Steam Deck are the two most prominent handheld PCs.

A recent report from Bloomberg says that Sony may delay the release of PlayStation 6 until 2028 or 2029, hoping the memory supply problem will improve by then. The same report also says that Nintendo is considering a possible price increase for Switch 2 later this year.

For now, the price increase for the ROG Xbox Ally X has only been confirmed in Japan. It remains unclear whether other regions will see similar changes in the future

Read more at: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/asus-rog-xbox-ally-x-gets-a-price-increase-of-nearly-200-in-japan/