The era of famously Chi-Fi audio players may be ending, thanks to AI

The ongoing shortage of RAM and storage modules has sent electronics prices soaring to record highs. We’ve seen prices increase across PC components, laptops, mobile phones, gaming consoles, and more. A more recent victim of the phenomenon is the category of Hi-Fi digital audio players (DAPs), which are now reportedly feeling the heat.

The segment of low-cost Hi-Fi audio players, especially those emerging from China and Hong Kong, cannot deliver the same high audio quality without raising prices. These products, famously termed Chi-Fi owing to their origin, include popular brands such as FiiO and are known for delivering high-fidelity audio without exorbitant prices.

However, the recent pressure from outside the audio industry is forcing brands to raise their prices. In recent months, multiple FiiO products have seen price increases, and some may be too steep to stomach.

FiiO’s M21 and M33 have both seen a $40–50 increase in recent months. The JM21, seen as a gateway to dedicated Hi-Fi audio hardware, has also had its price increased by $60, from $200 to $260. While you would expect these prices to increase due to RAM or storage, there’s another component that these DAPs share with massive AI compute rigs.

The tiny components driving DAP prices

Headphonesty notes that rising capacitor prices, which are crucial to audio equipment, are another key contributor to more expensive Chi-Fi equipment. Capacitors are vital to DAPs and DACs, as they store electrical energy and release it in a controlled manner. This protects the components from sudden voltage spikes that could otherwise damage the logic board.

AI data centers also utilize high-performance Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs), polymer capacitors, and supercapacitors for similar reasons. And since the AI gold rush has sent brands into a frenzy to meet demand for bigger clients such as NVIDIA first, other industries are left scrambling for a limited supply. To keep up with the demand, leading manufacturers, such as YAGEO Group’s KEMET, have increased prices for tantalum-based polymer capacitors at least three times in the last three months.

Similarly, high-capacity components, such as MLCCs, have seen prices increase by roughly 300%, while some popular models have risen by as much as 20 times. And there are seemingly no signs of cooling down.

In addition to FiiO, other Chi-Fi brands seen hiking their prices are HiBy, whose M500 x Hatsune Miku DAP is now costlier by almost $80. Shanling’s M3 Plus has also increased in price by $90 since its launch.

Analysts predict the MLCC supply crunch to last until mid-2027. That is when we could see increased capacities from the biggest players, such as Murata, TDK, YAGEO, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, finally showing their impact on the supply chain. Until then, we might see more fluctuations and hikes across multiple product segments, and audio is unlikely to be spared.