Nvidia Shield TV Pro Gets $100 Price Hike Due to AI
The ongoing boom in generative AI has impacted memory and component costs, driving up the price of the aging Nvidia Shield TV Pro streaming device.
Radwan AbdulhadiEditor and technology writer
An Aging Device Faces New Supply Pressures
The era of generative AI has upended technology supply chains, establishing an ironclad rule that any device featuring memory or storage is getting more expensive. Even aging streaming technology is no exception to this unwritten rule, as Nvidia has announced that the Shield TV Pro is receiving a $100 price increase effective immediately.
The most recent version of the Shield streaming box originally debuted in 2019, featuring Android TV, AI upscaling, and hardware decoding for a wide variety of media formats. Although it relies on an aging Tegra X1+ processor, the hardware remains fast for a television media streamer. When it first launched, the device retailed at $199.99 alongside a non-Pro variant priced at $149.99. While the non-Pro version has since been discontinued, the Shield TV Pro continues to survive at the new $299.99 price point.
Nvidia Blames Industry-Wide Component Costs
Nvidia has confirmed that consumers can blame AI for the higher pricing of the Shield TV. A company spokesperson explained that starting October 2, the Shield Pro is priced at $299 because the cost of components, including memory, has increased substantially across the industry.
Earlier this year, Nvidia’s Andrew Bell framed the Shield as a passion project during a discussion covered by Ars Technica . Despite its status as a passion project, it must still pay the bills at Nvidia. Bell noted that Nvidia continues to actively manufacture the Shield and sells every unit it produces. Without an older stockpile of pre-AI hardware available to sell, newly manufactured Shield TV units remain subject to the exact same supply chain constraints affecting modern smartphones and computers.
Broader Hardware Price Increases Across the Industry
Nvidia plays a major role in AI hyperscaling and is a key driver behind the high cost of components across the broader technology market. As one of the world's most valuable firms due to its market-leading AI accelerators and GPUs, the company reflects a wider industry trend where new hardware products launch at higher prices and become more expensive over time.
Gaming consoles have been particularly impacted by these component pressures. Other hardware makers, including Nintendo , Microsoft , and Sony , have all bumped up the prices of their current-generation hardware. Sony's PS5 Pro, for example, climbed from an initial launch price of $699.99 in 2024 to $899.99.
Market Availability and Consumer Options
Stock for the Shield TV Pro has remained limited over the past few months, likely because rising component prices made the manufacturing of new units increasingly expensive. At the $300 price point, producing more devices becomes financially viable for Nvidia, though the higher cost may make an already niche set-top box even less attractive to casual streaming users.
Unless users specifically require the Shield's extensive codec support or Plex server capabilities, alternatives remain more economical. While the device remains out of stock on Nvidia’s store , shoppers can find it listed at the new price via Best Buy .
Sources
- WIREDThe Nvidia Shield TV Is 7 Years Old. It Just Got a $100 Price Hike
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