Cost Conscious: Consumer Electronics Expected To See Significant Price Hikes

Tariffs Will Leave American Households Paying More For Electronic Devices

Smartphones, computers, televisions and headphones are essential in everyday American life, connecting us to work, school and entertainment. The United States is the biggest importer of consumer electronics in the world, buying $127.06 billion in electronics from China alone in 2024.

But tariffs on imported tech threaten to drive up prices, making it harder for families to afford the devices they rely on. As costs climb, staying connected in a digital world may become an increasingly expensive challenge.

Here are the consumer electronics that experts predict to see significant price impacts due to tariffs:

ELECTRONIC GOODS:

Average consumer spending was up 20% at Apple between April 2-7, 2025, due to tariff uncertainty.¹

LAPTOPS AND COMPUTERS:

Laptops and computer producers such as Dell, HP and Lenovo have paused all shipments into the United States for “at least two weeks” amid tariff uncertainty.²

VIDEO GAME CONSOLES:

Nintendo’s newest console releasing this summer, the Switch 2, could cost $600 after tariffs — double the price of the original console — and a significant increase of the initially expected price.³ Preorders for the Switch 2 are delayed in the U.S. because of tariffs.⁴

SMARTPHONES:

Despite pauses to reciprocal tariffs and exemptions, the 20% tariff still in place could increase the price of an iPhone by $300.⁵

TELEVISIONS:

New televisions are already seeing cost increases for consumers based on tariff speculation. A new television could cost $500 more than expected for U.S. buyers, as compared to other countries that are charged the same price point of prior releases.⁶

¹ https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/us/politics/tariffs-china-iphones-panic-shopping.html

² https://mashable.com/article/tariff-news-dell-hp-lenovo-halt-laptop-shipments

³https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/12/tech/trump-electronics-china-tariffs/index.html

⁴ https://tech.yahoo.com/article/nintendo-switch-2-pre-orders-delays-prices-release-date-and-everything-else-you-need-to-know-140931105.html

⁵ https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/taxes/making-sense-of-phone-tariffs-see-how-much-prices-iphone-prices-could-rise/

⁶ https://www.theverge.com/news/645832/sony-bravia-ii-oled-5-pricing-tariffs