Memory card prices are bad enough, but this camera brand “cannot rule out the possibility” of camera price increases amid the AI memory crisis

Photographers are facing memory card prices that are triple what they were just a few months ago, as the rise of AI creates a shortage in digital storage. The question is, will the effects bleed past memory cards and external hard drives and into cameras themselves? In a recent interview, a Canon executive said that it “cannot rule out the possibility” of passing on increased parts costs onto customers.

The quote comes from an interview with Canon’s Executive Vice President Takeshi Tokura published in Nikkei and DC Life, translated from Japanese by Google. When asked if there would be any effects from the surging memory card prices, Tokura said there will be an impact.

“Labor costs in the manufacturing division are rising, but the increase in memory card prices is abnormal,” the executive said. “I’m sorry, but we cannot rule out the possibility of passing on the costs to prices. It’s not just about raising prices; we also have the option of cancelling our originally planned price reductions or suspending promotions.”

Article continues below

Tokura’s statement echoes what Canon shared with investors during its last earnings report, saying that it was stockpiling inventory and expecting a ¥6 to 7 billion increase in costs “with roughly one-third of the impact on Printing and two-thirds on Imaging.” At the time, Canon said it wasn’t facing any major disruptions, but that “if the situation worsens, supply risks could emerge.”

The interview only hints that camera prices could be affected, depending on whether the shortage worsens. Canon also noted that if a price change is needed, that doesn’t necessarily mean increasing list prices – it could mean reducing planned sales and discounts instead.

But, the interview serves as a reminder that, while memory cards are often the first thing that comes to find when it comes to digital memory for photographers, cameras need built-in DRAM too.

A camera’s built-in DRAM, or Dynamic Random Access Memory, is what gives the camera a buffer to take more than one photo at a time, temporarily saving the data while writing to the memory card. Cameras – and especially high-performance cameras with fast burst speeds – need built-in memory to temporarily store images on as the processor works.

The effects of the memory shortage on camera prices may not yet be clear, but the shortage comes as CIPA data suggests a rise in camera prices, high demand for compact cameras makes some models expensive or hard to find, and, in the US, major camera brands have increased prices as a result of tariffs.

You may also like