The Nvidia Shield TV Is 7 Years Old. It Just Got a $100 Price Hike

Nvidia Shield TV 发布七年，价格却上涨了 100 美元

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 $100 more expensive, effective immediately.

生成式 AI 时代彻底颠覆了科技供应链，2026 年有一条铁律：只要涉及内存或存储，价格就会上涨。显然，即使是搭载陈旧技术的设备也无法逃脱这条不成文的规定。Nvidia 刚刚宣布，Shield TV Pro 即日起涨价 100 美元。

The most recent version of the Shield streaming box debuted in 2019, running Android TV with AI upscaling and hardware decoding for almost any type of media. While it ran an aging Tegra X1+ processor, that was (and still is) fast for a TV media streamer. The device launched at $199.99, with a non-Pro variant at $149.99. The non-Pro Shield has since been discontinued, but the Shield TV Pro lives on at the new $299.99 price.

最新版本的 Shield 流媒体盒子于 2019 年首次亮相，运行 Android TV 系统，支持 AI 增强画质，并能对几乎所有类型的媒体进行硬件解码。虽然它搭载的是老旧的 Tegra X1+ 处理器，但对于电视流媒体播放器来说，其性能在当时（乃至现在）依然强劲。该设备发布时的售价为 199.99 美元，非 Pro 版本售价为 149.99 美元。目前非 Pro 版 Shield 已停产，而 Shield TV Pro 则以 299.99 美元的新价格继续销售。

Nvidia has confirmed that you can blame AI for the higher Shield TV pricing. “Starting October 2, SHIELD Pro will be priced at $299. The cost of components, including memory, has increased substantially across the industry,” a spokesperson told Ars.

Nvidia 已证实，Shield TV 涨价的原因确实要归咎于 AI。“从 10 月 2 日起，SHIELD Pro 的售价将调整为 299 美元。包括内存在内的组件成本在整个行业内都出现了大幅上涨，”一位发言人告诉 Ars。

When Ars Technica talked to Nvidia’s Andrew Bell earlier this year, he framed the Shield as a passion project, but it looks like passion projects still have to pay the bills at Nvidia. In that interview, Bell explained that Nvidia still actively manufactures the Shield and sells every unit it makes. Without a stockpile of pre-AI hardware to sell, new Shield TV units are subject to the same supply chain constraints as today’s smartphones and computers.

当 Ars Technica 今年早些时候采访 Nvidia 的 Andrew Bell 时，他将 Shield 描述为一个“情怀项目”，但看起来即使是情怀项目在 Nvidia 也必须实现盈利。在那次采访中，Bell 解释说 Nvidia 仍在积极生产 Shield，并且生产的每一台设备都能卖掉。由于没有 AI 爆发前的硬件库存可供销售，新生产的 Shield TV 必须面对与当今智能手机和电脑相同的供应链限制。

Nvidia isn’t a victim here, though. As a key player in AI hyper scaling, the company is more responsible than most for the sky-high cost of components. It has also become one of the most valuable firms in the world thanks to its market-leading AI accelerators and GPUs. As a consequence, we’re seeing new products launch at higher prices than their predecessors, and many end up getting more expensive during their lifetimes. Game consoles have been particularly affected, with Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony all bumping the prices of their current-gen hardware. The PS5 Pro, for example, has gone from $699.99 at launch in 2024 to $899.99 today.

不过，Nvidia 并非受害者。作为 AI 超大规模计算的关键参与者，该公司对组件价格的飙升负有不可推卸的责任。得益于其市场领先的 AI 加速器和 GPU，它也已成为全球市值最高的公司之一。结果就是，我们看到新产品的发布价格比前代更高，且许多产品在生命周期内价格不降反升。游戏主机受到的影响尤为明显，任天堂、微软和索尼都提高了其现役硬件的价格。例如，PS5 Pro 的价格已从 2024 年发布时的 699.99 美元涨至如今的 899.99 美元。

Stock of the Shield TV Pro has been slim for the last few months, probably because it became too expensive to manufacture new units with component prices rising so quickly. At $300, 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.

过去几个月里，Shield TV Pro 的库存一直很紧张，这很可能是因为组件价格上涨过快，导致生产新设备的成本过高。定价 300 美元后，Nvidia 继续生产更多设备才变得有利可图。然而，更高的价格将使这款本就小众的机顶盒对于那些只想看 Netflix 的用户来说，吸引力进一步下降。

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.

除非你需要 Shield 强大的编解码器支持或 Plex 服务器功能，否则购买更便宜的流媒体播放器会更划算。目前 Shield 在 Nvidia 官网仍处于缺货状态，但已在百思买（Best Buy）以新价格上架。

This story originally appeared on Ars Technica. 本文最初发表于 Ars Technica。