Equipment prices are up again. All because of expensive copper
Rising raw material prices are starting to have an increasingly visible impact on the PC hardware market. Roman Hartungknown as “der8auer” and CEO at the same time Thermal Grizzlyin the latest video, points out that copper and tin are becoming a real problem not only for cooling manufacturers, but more broadly for the entire supply chain of computer components.
Most of the copper was collected in the United States
Just recently, an order for 12-mm copper plates, used, among others, in water blocks, was implemented within a few weeks. Now waiting times can be several months and prices are 40% higher. For example, ordering a single CD in October cost 190 euros, and currently it costs even 300 euros.
The situation is well reflected in copper prices on the equipment markets. During the year, the price of this metal increased to over $13,000 per tonne and is close to historical records. Additionally, due to Donald Trump’s chaotic policy and the pre-emptive actions of many companies fearing tariffs, wrestling is largely concentrated in the United Stateswhich further limits availability for Europe and Asia.
The second problematic material is tincrucial for soldering and assembling electronics. Its prices increased during the year by approximately 60% in euros and by as much as 80% in dollars. For comparison, aluminum and nickel prices increased only by about 5% in the same period, and steel even became slightly cheaper.
Alphacool and be quiet! issued official announcements
The problem is also confirmed by other manufacturers. Alphacool announced price increases of 5-10% across the entire offer by the end of February. The company points to a sharp increase in the prices of copper used in water blocks, an almost threefold increase in the costs of RoHS-compliant solders in heat sinks and rising labor costs in China.
On the other hand be quiet! declares that it is trying to maintain stable prices for now and is closely monitoring the raw materials market, but does not rule out corrections in the future if high costs persist or increase.
Please note that over time, the problem will affect more devices. Copper is not only blocks and heat sinks, but also heat pipes and PCB paths. And this already affects motherboards, graphics cards, power supplies, laptops and many other computer components. Higher prices in stores are one thing, but some smaller brands may completely disappear from the market. Especially with PC sales declining due to expensive SSD, RAM and GPU.
