During the summer break—traditionally the peak sales season for the "back-to-school three-piece set" of smartphones, laptops, and tablets—global storage chip prices have continued to surge dramatically, prompting major manufacturers to raise their prices. Those who decided to "wait and see" did not find discounts, but instead encountered a wave of price hikes.

According to reports, Ms. Chen, who was preparing school supplies for her engineering student son, felt the sting of the high costs this back-to-school season. Due to the need for programming and drafting, her son required a high-performance laptop, a mid-range smartphone, and a complete iPad with stylus. The total cost for the full set of digital "three-piece" gear reached nearly 18,000 yuan. Comparing the purchase prices from last year's parents for the same configuration, Ms. Chen found she spent nearly 5,000 yuan more this year. "I originally thought 15,000 yuan would be enough, but I didn't expect to go over budget by so much," Ms. Chen said.

On social media, "when to buy a computer for school" has become a hot topic among soon-to-be college students. "Computer prices are rising too much now. Will it still be too late to buy during the Double 11 shopping festival?" one new student asked for advice online. A parent shared their experience: "I bought a laptop in June this year for 5,768 yuan, and now the same model has risen to over 7,800 yuan. Buying it just over a month earlier saved me more than 2,100 yuan."

Computers effectively cost as much as a phone, and price increases are not isolated but widespread.

Ms. Chen ultimately chose an ASUS Tianxuan 6 Pro for her child, configured with an i7-14650HX processor, RTX5060 graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. According to price trend data from the Dewu app, the average market price for this model has risen significantly compared to the same period last year, jumping from 7,611 yuan to 10,999 yuan—an increase of 3,388 yuan, or roughly 44.5%. Ms. Chen's family is not alone in facing these price hikes. From entry-level office laptops to high-performance creative machines, the overall price range of laptops is shifting upward.

Price trend charts from the Dewu app show that the average market prices for several popular high-performance laptops have all increased notably. A check of platforms like JD.com and Taobao also revealed that the average market price for the Lenovo Legion R9000P has risen from 9,324 yuan last year to between 14,000 and 15,000 yuan, an increase of over 55%. For students needing to run professional software, the barrier to purchasing high-performance devices is rising further.

At the same time, prices for entry-level office laptops are also climbing. The Dewu app's price trend data shows that several entry-level models frequently sought after by students have increased in price compared to the end of last year. The average market price of the Mechrevo Unbounded 14X "Battle Edition" rose from 3,019 yuan at the end of last year to 4,799 yuan, an increase of 1,780 yuan, or about 59.0%. The Honor X16 Ryzen Edition saw its average market price increase from 3,099 yuan to 4,266 yuan, a rise of 1,167 yuan, or about 37.7%. The 3,000 yuan price bracket for entry-level laptops, which many students focused on in the past, is gradually moving toward the 4,000 yuan range.

Behind the price hikes, one of the core reasons is the cost pressure from storage chips.

TrendForce projects that in the third quarter of 2026, the contract price of general-purpose DRAM will increase by 13% to 18% quarter-over-quarter, while NAND Flash will rise by 10% to 15%. Since the start of this year, the construction of AI data centers has continuously consumed high-bandwidth memory and server-grade storage, with some manufacturers shifting production capacity toward high-margin products. As a result, the supply of consumer-grade storage continues to face pressure.

Regarding whether consumers can still find low prices during the Double 11 shopping festival, industry insiders believe that while there will still be some promotional opportunities this season, the likelihood of a "return to low prices" is low due to cost pressures. For incoming freshmen and their families, digital devices are important tools for college life, but that doesn't mean a higher configuration is always the best fit. Making choices based on academic needs, expected usage cycles, and actual budgets may be a more rational approach to consumption in this environment of fluctuating prices.