Amazon Quietly Raises Prices on Kindle, Echo and Other Devices Ahead of Holiday Sales
Amazon has raised prices on many of its popular devices over the past week, including Kindle e-readers, Echo speakers, Eero routers and Fire TV streaming sticks, by $10 to $100. Several of these products are already being advertised as 'on sale' at prices close to their old, pre-hike level.
Over the past week, Amazon has quietly raised prices across several of its most popular electronics lines, with increases ranging from $10 to as much as $100 depending on the product. The changes touch every major Amazon hardware category: Kindle e-readers, Echo smart speakers, Eero mesh routers, and Fire TV streaming devices.
Amazon declined to explain the reasoning to Wired, though a company spokesperson reportedly told another outlet that the increases stem from rising costs of memory and storage components. Similar price hikes have been seen this summer from other tech companies, including Apple and Kobo.
Which devices were affected
Every currently available Kindle model has gone up in price by at least $30, with the notable exception of the Kindle Scribe lineup, which has kept its prices unchanged. Echo speaker prices rose by $10 to $100, with the largest jumps hitting screen-equipped Echo Show models. Not every Echo device was affected, however — the second-generation Echo Studio and the older Echo Show 8 have kept their original prices.
Amazon's Eero router line also saw increases, but only for the Eero 7 and Eero 7 Pro, while the budget Eero 6 remained unchanged. Fire TV streaming sticks saw price bumps on two of the more popular models.
Sales may not be what they seem
Many of the affected devices are already being marketed as 'on sale,' but those discounted prices often land close to what the item cost before the recent hikes. That means holiday shopping events like Prime Day and Black Friday may show seemingly attractive discounts, even though shoppers could end up paying roughly what the products cost just a couple of months earlier.
