If you got a quote for new laptops or a server refresh this year and it came in noticeably higher than the last time you bought, you did the math right and the vendor didn't make a mistake. PCs are running well above where they were a year ago, and server hardware built around GPUs or heavy memory has moved even more. A business planning a modest hardware refresh this year should expect it to cost tens of thousands more than the same purchase would have a year ago.
This isn't a one-vendor problem you can shop your way around, and it isn't temporary in the way a supply hiccup usually is. It's worth understanding why, because the "why" changes what you should actually do about your 2027 budget.
Why this happened now
Three things landed on top of each other. Memory chip makers shifted a large share of their production toward the high-capacity memory that AI data centers buy in bulk, which tightened supply for the ordinary memory that goes into a business laptop or server. New tariffs on advanced computing chips added cost on top of that for some categories, even with carve-outs for equipment built for domestic use. And a huge wave of businesses replacing Windows 10 machines after its free support ended pushed demand higher at the exact moment supply got tighter. None of those three things was really about small business IT at all. Small business IT is just standing downstream of all three.
What it means for your budget
The honest answer from people who watch this market closely is that meaningful relief isn't expected until new memory manufacturing capacity comes online, and that is a 2027 story at the earliest, not a next-quarter one. A budget built on last year's per-device cost will fall short this year, and probably next year too. That is a planning problem, not a wait-it-out problem.
What to actually do about it
- Separate "must replace" from "would be nice." Machines that are out of vendor support, failing, or blocking a security requirement go first. Everything else can likely run another year with the money better spent elsewhere.
- Build in contingency, don't just absorb it. A refresh budgeted at last year's prices will come up short. Add real margin, not a rounding error, so the number you present internally survives contact with an actual quote.
- Get quotes now rather than waiting. Prices have been trending up, not down, through the year. If a purchase is coming in the next two quarters, locking pricing sooner tends to beat waiting for a better deal that hasn't been showing up.
- Ask what can be extended safely. A machine that's a year or two from end of support might be a fine candidate for one more year with a memory or drive upgrade instead of full replacement, if your IT provider says the security posture holds up.
- Consider certified refurbished for lower-risk roles. Not every machine in the building needs to be new out of the box. A front-desk or common-area workstation is often a reasonable place to use certified refurbished hardware and put the savings toward the machines that actually need to be current.
Takeaway for IT decision-makers
Rebuild your hardware budget around this year's real prices, not last year's, and be deliberate about what actually needs to be new.
The businesses handling this well aren't the ones finding a secret cheaper vendor. They're the ones who separated real need from habit, priced it honestly, and built the budget to match. That's a planning exercise you can do this quarter, before next year's numbers get locked in.
Brotherly Technology helps small and mid-sized businesses across Northwest Georgia plan hardware refreshes that match what the business actually needs, not just what's due for a routine swap. Talk to us about your setup before you finalize next year's budget.
Sources: public reporting and industry analysis on 2026 memory chip supply, semiconductor tariffs, and PC and server pricing trends. Not financial advice.