Walmart’s line of Onn-branded streaming devices are some of the cheapest options out there if you want to add Google TV to your living room, but even the world’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer can’t escape the current crisis facing virtually all electronics consumers.
Walmart’s Onn 4K Plus, an Apple TV-shaped streaming puck that supports Google TV with full 4K output, appears to have recently received a modest price increase. Starting price of $29.88 when it hit stores last Mayit has since risen to $39.88. Although it is still not as expensive as the Google TV internal streamerIt constitutes a huge jump in price (relatively speaking, at least) for what has always been a line of devices that punches above its weight. It seems that this price increase has not yet occurred in all regions— 9to5Google Ben Schoon had to use a California-based VPN to see the changes, while I see the new price by default, but reports on Reddit I have made it clear that this is not an isolated change.
This movement comes after the Onn 4K Plus recently faced stock shortages throughout Februarybefore eventually reappearing on virtual store shelves at the once-typical price of $30. While there are many logical reasons that could have resulted in Walmart having to deal with both stock shortages and price increases, the most obvious culprit is our ongoing RAMageddon. Even with only 2GB of RAM, it’s entirely possible that with a product priced as low as this, Walmart would have to increase the total cost of goods to manufacture each of these drive drives or would have to turn to more expensive suppliers.
In fact, those product shortages appear to continue, as the company’s last unit sold out while this article was being prepared. If you’re in a hurry to get a streaming device, Onn’s $20 1080p Streaming Device still exists, although it also shows little stock, while the rest of the company’s usual selection It is currently completely sold out. Don’t be surprised if price increases occur on the rest of the Onn brand’s lineup, as this seems to be our new reality for budget-focused devices. Hey, at least the Google TV Streamer is currently marked down to $80.
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