Nvidia has discontinued the standard version of its Shield TV streaming device and raised the price of the Shield TV Pro by 50%, from $199 to $299, according to TechRadar and Wired.
The price change took effect October 2, Wired reported, citing an Nvidia spokesperson: "the cost of components, including memory, has increased substantially across the industry." TechRadar relayed the same explanation, attributed to the company's official announcement.
Wired reported that the Shield TV Pro launched in 2019 at $199.99, alongside a non-Pro version priced at $149.99. That cheaper model had already been discontinued before this latest announcement, leaving only the now more expensive Pro model in Nvidia's lineup.
What the device still offers
Despite years without a hardware refresh, the Shield TV Pro runs on a Tegra X1 chip with a 256-core GPU, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, according to TechRadar. The device supports 4K HDR video with Dolby Vision and an AI upscaling feature capable of delivering content at up to 4K and 60 frames per second.
AI demand pushing memory prices up
Wired tied the increase to a broader trend: it described 2026 as having one nearly ironclad rule for the tech industry — anything with memory or storage is getting more expensive, even devices with years-old components inside, because of generative AI's demand for chips and memory.
Wired cited game consoles as another example of the same pressure, noting that Sony's PS5 Pro has gone from $699.99 at its 2024 launch to $899.99 today. According to the outlet, Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony have all raised prices on their current-generation hardware in recent months.
TechRadar reported that Nvidia continues to manufacture and sell every Shield unit it makes, without a stockpile of pre-AI-era components to cushion the increase. The outlet noted that Nvidia itself is among the biggest beneficiaries of the AI accelerator and GPU market that, per the report, is helping push component prices higher.
TechRadar also noted that Nvidia still offers its GeForce Now cloud gaming service, available on desktop, mobile and smart TV platforms, as an alternative to dedicated Shield hardware.
Signs the end was coming
TechRadar noted it had already reported over the summer that the standard Shield TV was unavailable through official retail channels, with no indication of restocking — a sign, the outlet said, that the discontinuation had been in the works for a while. Wired made a similar point, reporting that stock of the Shield TV Pro had also been slim for the last few months, probably because it had become too expensive to manufacture new units as component prices kept climbing.
Wired also cited an earlier Ars Technica interview with Nvidia executive Andrew Bell, who described the Shield as a "passion project" inside the company — one that, the outlet noted, still has to pay for itself. Nvidia recently unveiled another product aimed at a related audience, the RTX Spark "superchip" for laptops and handheld gaming devices, which the company describes as "a new beginning" for that market, according to TechRadar.
Wired suggested that unless a buyer specifically needs the Shield's broad codec support or its ability to run a Plex server, it now makes more sense to look for a cheaper streaming device elsewhere.
TechRadar added that, with the price hike in place and a new Apple TV model reportedly expected soon, shoppers in the market for a TV streamer might be better off waiting to compare options before committing to the more expensive Shield TV Pro.
TechRadar wrote that this is likely to be the last Shield TV Pro model for some time, since, in the outlet's assessment, every indication points to the component cost crisis continuing through at least 2027.
