The Nvidia Shield TV Is 7 Years Old. It Just Got a $100 Price Hike
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Summary
The era of generative AI has upended technology supply chains, and there is one ironclad rule in 2026: If it has memory or storage, it’s getting more expensive. Even devices with years-old tech inside are still apparently subject to that unwritten rule. Nvidia has just announced that the Shield TV Pro is getting 100moreexpensive,effectiveimmediately.ThemostrecentversionoftheShieldstreamingboxdebutedin2019,runningAndroidTVwithAIupscalingandhardwaredecodingforalmostanytypeofmedia.WhileitrananagingTegraX1+processor,thatwas(andstillis)fastforaTVmediastreamer.Thedevicelaunchedat199.99, with a non-Pro variant at 149.99.Thenon−ProShieldhassincebeendiscontinued,buttheShieldTVProlivesonatthenew299.99 price.
Nvidia has confirmed that you can blame AI for the higher Shield TV pricing. “Starting October 2, SHIELD Pro will be priced at 299.Thecostofcomponents,includingmemory,hasincreasedsubstantiallyacrosstheindustry,”aspokespersontoldArs.WhenArsTechnicatalkedtoNvidia’sAndrewBellearlierthisyear,he[framedtheShieldasapassionproject](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/01/inside−nvidias−10−year−effort−to−make−the−shield−tv−the−most−updated−android−device−ever/),butitlookslikepassionprojectsstillhavetopaythebillsatNvidia.Inthatinterview,BellexplainedthatNvidiastillactivelymanufacturestheShieldandsellseveryunititmakes.Withoutastockpileofpre−AIhardwaretosell,newShieldTVunitsaresubjecttothesamesupplychainconstraintsastoday’ssmartphonesandcomputers.Nvidiaisn’tavictimhere,though.AsakeyplayerinAIhyperscaling,thecompanyismoreresponsiblethanmostforthesky−highcostofcomponents.Ithasalsobecomeoneofthemostvaluablefirmsintheworldthankstoitsmarket−leadingAIacceleratorsandGPUs.Asaconsequence,we’reseeingnewproductslaunchathigherpricesthantheirpredecessors,andmanyendupgettingmoreexpensiveduringtheirlifetimes.Gameconsoleshavebeenparticularlyaffected,with[Nintendo](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/05/the−nintendo−switch−2−is−getting−more−expensive−later−this−year/),[Microsoft](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/09/microsoft−raises−xbox−console−prices−for−the−second−time−this−year/),and[Sony](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/sony−is−raising−playstation−5−prices−again−this−time−by−between−100−and−150/)allbumpingthepricesoftheircurrent−genhardware.ThePS5Pro,forexample,hasgonefrom699.99 at launch in 2024 to 899.99today.StockoftheShieldTVProhasbeenslimforthelastfewmonths,probablybecauseitbecametooexpensivetomanufacturenewunitswithcomponentpricesrisingsoquickly.At300, it will make sense for Nvidia to churn out more devices. However, this higher price will cause an already niche set-top box to be even less appealing to people who just want to stream Netflix.
Unless you need the Shield’s extensive codec support or Plex server capability, it makes more sense to get a cheaper streamer. The Shield is still out of stock on Nvidia’s store, but it’s available at the new price from Best Buy.
This story originally appeared on Ars Technica.
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