PSA: Now is probably a good time to upgrade your electronic devices

It's been a week since the US election, and it took my tired brain that long to realize that the tariffs Trump has promised are (of course) going to increase the prices for consumer electronics by a bunch, and that hence I should really buy new stuff now, before his inauguration, if I was looking to upgrade anytime soon.

I found this article in Business Insider that has some estimates of the likely price increases for the US:

Trump has vowed to install a blanket tariff of 10% to 20% on all imports and a flat, additional tariff of at least 60% on Chinese goods — a move many economists have warned will raise prices for American consumers and lead to inflation. ...

In 2023, China accounted for 87% of US video game console imports, 78% of smartphone imports, and 79% of laptop and tablet imports, the Consumer Technology Association reported.

Under Trump's tariffs, the average price of laptops and tablets could skyrocket 45%, jumping an additional $200-$350 from their current prices, the CTA report found.

Similarly, smartphones would see a more than 25% increase in consumer price, surging more than $200 from their average October price...

Under Trump's tariffs, video game consoles, meanwhile, could cost nearly $250 more than they currently do, and monitors could increase by more than $100, the report found. Televisions will see a 9% increase in consumer price, costing an additional $48 on average, according to the CTA report.

In my case, I'd been waiting to buy a new gaming PC until the new Nvidia cards were revealed, but decided that I'd rather have a 4090 now than pay thousands more due to tariffs on a 5000-series card. I'm currently exploring some options and will probably pull the trigger on a new rig within the next week or so. I've never had a top-of-the-line gaming PC, mostly I've stuck to consoles, so I'm sort of excited, even if I wish I could have gone for my original plan.

I also just bought a new TV, which for me was overdue anyway, my existing one is a cheap 1080 Vizio I bought in 2011. Decided to spring for a 55-inch Samsung S90D since it seems to be the best TV for games out there right now, and I'm planning on keeping it as long as I can. Still mulling whether I also want a new monitor. We'll see. I should probably also replace my phone since it's eight years old, but I don't use it for much and I hate how big all the modern phones are. Sigh.

Anyone else have plans to buy any new electronic toys before the trade wars and financial armageddon begin?

I've definitely got my eye out for a deal on a mid range gaming PC for similar reasons (I don't want to play the biggest releases on PC but I'd like something that can run even demanding indies and strategy games/RPGs.)

It's worth noting, though, that we don't know what will happen. Trump has talked a huge game on tariffs but one thing about Trump is that he lies constantly, changes his mind based on the last person in the room and/or whoever pays him personally the most, and will happily carve out exceptions for the right special interests.

Remember the wall Mexico was going to pay for? Or solving the Russia Ukraine war within 1 day of being elected?

Tariffs are much easier for a president to implement so there will be some, but I could see the tech bros like Musk telling him to carve out electronics or a number of other scenarios where it's not this bad. On the other hand maybe it will be! Trump is unpredictable and he does sometimes do what he says.

On the other hand if not being able to afford a Switch 2 is the worst fallout from this administration I will be ecstatically happy.

Good point about electronics possibly going up big time under Trump, because he is currently stacking his cabinet with anti-China war hawks. So I believe those tariffs are coming. Though my TCL 6 Series from 2018, the best deal in television at the time, is still going strong, I've been looking to upgrade to possibly my first high-end OLED, or maybe a good QLED, because I won't have to worry about burn-in. In terms of PC gaming, I'm happy with what I have for now. You really don't need a 4090 to get the best out of gaming, unless you're also going to play high-end games on a 4K monitor. Still, I plan to upgraded everything on my rig someday. My motherboard have lots of room for improvement. Maybe people should pay close attention to Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year.

I did buy a PS5 Pro and joked to a friend that I was doing it sooner because of this but in truth I don't believe he's going to go through with half the shit he says.

Yeah, always possible someone will talk him off the ledge on the tariff front. But he imposed a lot of tariffs in his first term, and I don't see any particular reason to think that this is a thing he won't do. It seems more likely than not that he will follow through, especially since he doesn't need congress for tariffs. I mean, hell, Musk has been out there opening saying that he knows Trump's policies will tank the economy, and doesn't care.

The weird thing with the Samsung S90D I just bought is that apparently it is WOLED or QD-OLED based on the size you get. The 42, 48, and 83-inch versions are WOLED while the 55, 65, and 77-inch are QD-OLED. I got the 55-inch specifically because I wanted the smallest possible screen that had the neat new standard. Would have gone with the 42 or 48 otherwise, but I'll live.

Yeah, I'm trying to future proof, basically. I expect that if and when I buy a new rig (I mean, after this new one I just bought) I will likely just migrate the 4090 into it rather than get another new gee-wiz card. I've been dealing with mid-range and hand-me-down cards for most of my life so it's not like that will be a new experience for me. I like the idea of buying high-end and then running it into the ground. I also went with the new Ryzen 7 9800X3D and a ton of fast storage. It's costing me a pretty penny, but eh, I am on better financial footing now than I've ever been, and I'm generally pretty frugal, so time to splurge a little!

Welp, time for me to stock up on rechargeable sex toys for the third party market I mean iPads that's what I meant definitely not the other thing.

Figures that my current TV is on its way out, a bunch of blueish/purple blobs in random areas? I have not looked at TV's in years. Is LG still the go to?

@superslidetail: If you're looking for an OLED, yeah, they are still up there. But many others brands like Sony, Panasonic, and some others have caught up in terms of quality. My go-to site and YouTube channel for TV reviews is RTings. So check them out before buying.