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Luke James is a freelance writer and journalist.\u00a0 Although his background is in legal, he has a personal interest in all things tech, especially hardware and microelectronics, and anything regulatory.\u00a0 ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-25/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Luke James Social Links Navigation Contributor Luke James is a freelance writer and journalist. Although his background is in legal, he has a personal interest in all things tech, especially hardware and microelectronics, and anything regulatory.
bit_user No, they won't tariff server chips in any quantity, since that would affect AI datacenters. Reply
magbarn Can't wait for another 30% price hike on laptops, macbooks, and consoles. Hate this timeline. Reply
Bigshrimp I wonder if the PC market will even exist at all in a year or two? It seems like they are purposely trying to destroy it with great haste. Reply
COLGeek Folks, please focus on the tech aspects/impacts of this topic and not on political opinions. Thank you. Reply
COLGeek Bigshrimp said: I wonder if the PC market will even exist at all in a year or two? It seems like they are purposely trying to destroy it with great haste. Purposefully destroying it? No, I don't think that is even a consideration (or afterthought). This is just an unintended consequence to changes in the overall speculative and evolving ecosystem, Reply
Bigshrimp COLGeek said: Purposefully destroying it? No, I don't think that is even a consideration (or afterthought). This is just an unintended consequence to changes in the overall speculative and evolving ecosystem, To me, it looks like they are trying to push people into a tech desert due to the prices increasing and a more tightly constrained consumer supply. That way they can get people into a different ecosystem, like game streaming with monthly subscriptions. The changes in the ecosystem are the intended consequences, otherwise there would be no change. Reply
COLGeek Bigshrimp said: To me, it looks like they are trying to push people into a tech desert due to the prices increasing. That way they can get people into a different ecosystem, like game streaming. The changes in the ecosystem is the intended consequences, otherwise there would be no change. Maybe, but I think it that is far outside of the decision/investment loop of these guys to think about the enthusiasts PC market and things like a game streaming service. Some outside of these jokers may try something like that (and likely fail), but those pushing/speculating aren't thinking about immediate consumer impacts. Reply
Bigshrimp COLGeek said: Maybe, but I think it that is far outside of the decision/investment loop of these guys to think about the enthusiasts PC market and things like a game streaming service. Some outside of these jokers may try something like that (and likely fail), but those pushing/speculating aren't thinking about immediate consumer impacts. I stand by my observations. I could be wrong, which is fine. I agree with you that they aren't thinking about the immediate impact to consumers, more of an afterthought really. That's really how I come to my original conclusion of them trying to destroy the consumer market. Reply
COLGeek Bigshrimp said: I stand by my observations. I could be wrong, which is fine. I agree with you that they aren't thinking about the immediate impact to consumers, more of an afterthought really. That's really how I come to my original conclusion of them trying to destroy the consumer market. Time will tell. Reply
thestryker This is just more performative nonsense to get headlines and make it seem like they're doing something. The usual suspects of extremely rich will appeal for carve outs and get them meanwhile consumer markets will be squeezed further. Investment in the US is almost entirely wrapped around ai at this point to such an extent that if you removed it and looked at all other investment the red flags of a recession would be apparent. I genuinely wish what was being done was actually intended to reshore manufacturing and assembly. If the intent was actually to reshore they would include incentives for doing so. While the deal struck regarding TSMC chips wouldn't really work for most markets that's an example of having an incentive which can mitigate the penalty. Building out manufacturing and/or assembly takes time and unless the market a business is in is growing just passing on the tariff costs to customers is going to be a better choice than building in the US. Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/policy/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/policy/trump-administration-weighs-expanding-chip-tariffs-to-laptops-consoles-and-servers#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
- SK hynix breaks ground on the first HBM plant in the US, bringing key AI component production to the States — says production starts in 2029
- Many talks between data center developers and local governments are wrapped in secrecy behind non-disclosure agreements — residents question the need for NDAs,
- Microsoft Paint and Photos apps add invisible watermark to AI-generated content — developer reverse engineers GUID embedding
- GeForce NOW Shakes Up August With 26 New Games
- Mad scientist makes LEDs in his backyard — semiconductor wizard who made his own RAM turns his attention to using bathroom eBay laser to etch sapphire wafers
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.