Razer pulls new Blade laptops from its US store amid tariff concerns

[midian182]

What just happened? In a move that is almost certainly a response to the Trump administration's tariffs, Razer has temporarily stopped direct sales of its new laptops in the US. The move comes after laptop maker Framework halted sales of its Laptop 13 model in the US and canceled preorders for the new Laptop 12 today.

Razer's US website currently shows no 16-inch or 18-inch Blade laptops for sale. The older Blade 14 that comes with an RTX 4060, as well as some accessories and skins, is still available.

The links that previously directed users to purchase or pre-order the affected items have been replaced with a Notify Me button, which scrolls the page down to a section for registering interest and receiving updates.

The configurator for preordering the new Blade 16 laptop was last working on April 1, the day before the Trump administration announced the US tariffs on China and other countries that manufacture laptop parts.

Razer has refused to answer any questions about the pause in sales being related to the tariffs. Razer Public Relations Manager Andy Johnston told The Verge, "We do not have a comment at this stage regarding tariffs."

However, it's a virtual certainty that the move is a response to the tariffs. Framework, the laptop maker focused on making its products repairable and upgradeable, this week said it was temporarily pausing its US sales on some of its base Framework Laptop 13 systems, removing them from its website. The company also canceled the opening US preorders for the new Laptop 12 today, and has not announced a price.

Framework explained that it had priced its laptops when tariffs on imports from Taiwan were 0%. At a 10% tariff, the company would have to sell its lowest-end laptop at a loss. "Other consumer goods makers have performed the same calculations and taken the same actions, though most have not been open about it," Framework wrote.

Nintendo also responded to the tariffs, stopping pre-orders for the Switch 2 in the US.

Also missing from Razer's website is the new laptop stand that it announced only yesterday – it also shows a Notify Me button. The stand is available from Razer's Canadian website for $99.99 CAD, and those in Canada can still access the Blade 16 configurator.

The new, RTX 5000-series Blade laptops and other accessories are available to buy from Razer's website in other countries, too.

We don't know when new Blade laptops will be back in stock, or if the already high price of these products will be increased.

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Razer pulls new Blade laptops from its US store amid tariff concerns

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Wait, American companies employing Americans buy parts from China?

I had no idea that’s how the global economy worked!

That really changes the desirability of this tariff plan.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

And not one cry was heard from consumers.

 

[Robertrogue]

I am amazed how people are crying over this whole thing. For so many years, businesses have been raking in billions of U.S. dollars and paying zero or even some at -% (that is being paid) to import goods from other countries. However, there was only one country out of the 200+ we exported to that was 0% and that was Japan. It is about time that U.S. made goods that are as good or better are priced similarly and that would help manufacturing and industries in the U.S. be more profitable and build more sustainable and well paying jobs for, I don't know, American citizens!

 

[MaXtor]

priced similarly

There are only two ways that happens: Robotic automation, so no jobs, or the elimination of minimum wage to allow slave labor in America. Otherwise, expect extreme price increases.

 

[Robertrogue]

So here is the problem. If you need to purchase items at a price that requires slave labor or automation not allowed here in the U.S. then I suggest going to a place this is allowed. If the cost of a "like" item is more because it is made here and not by a nine year old getting a buck a day wage, while the countries we buy these items from rake in trillions of U.S. dollars and give the people that produce the items nothing in return, then it seems the consumers are the issue not the tariffs!

 

[gamerk2]

I am amazed how people are crying over this whole thing. For so many years, businesses have been raking in billions of U.S. dollars and paying zero or even some at -% (that is being paid) to import goods from other countries. However, there was only one country out of the 200+ we exported to that was 0% and that was Japan. It is about time that U.S. made goods that are as good or better are priced similarly and that would help manufacturing and industries in the U.S. be more profitable and build more sustainable and well paying jobs for, I don't know, American citizens!

Except that's not how it works.

Simple example: I currently sell a good as cheap as I can, for $100. An overseas competitor undercuts me, and sells for $75. Now tariffs come in and the overseas product sells for $200. Even if my product is not affected in any way, I'm immediately raising my prices to $175. Making over 100% more profit, while being cheaper then the competition. That's how Capitalism works.

Even disregarding the Capitalist reason why Tariffs do not work, you have the other inherent problems. Such as:

1) Goods will be more expensive, since manufacturing costs are higher here, period (and that's before you factor in materials cost; more on that in a second). More expensive goods means fewer goods sold. Fewer goods sold means fewer jobs needed to maintain production.

2) Materials costs go up, since the majority of them are not mined (nor can be) within the continental US. Leading to the same problem as above: Higher prices leading the fewer goods sold, leading to job losses.

3) Putting tariffs on goods that will not be produced locally does *nothing* but raise costs to consumers. Case in point: Putting tariffs on Banana's is senseless.

The end result of this is going to be exactly what happened the last three times the US tried it (1820's, 1890's, 1930's); this isn't going to be pretty. The most likely outcome is this results in China being the dominant player in the world economy, since no one is going to trust the US again for at least a generation.

 

[Robertrogue]

Except that's not how it works.

Simple example: I currently sell a good as cheap as I can, for $100. An overseas competitor undercuts me, and sells for $75. Now tariffs come in and the overseas product sells for $200. Even if my product is not affected in any way, I'm immediately raising my prices to $175. Making over 100% more profit, while being cheaper then the competition. That's how Capitalism works.

Even disregarding the Capitalist reason why Tariffs do not work, you have the other inherent problems. Such as:

1) Goods will be more expensive, since manufacturing costs are higher here, period (and that's before you factor in materials cost; more on that in a second). More expensive goods means fewer goods sold. Fewer goods sold means fewer jobs needed to maintain production.

2) Materials costs go up, since the majority of them are not mined (nor can be) within the continental US. Leading to the same problem as above: Higher prices leading the fewer goods sold, leading to job losses.

3) Putting tariffs on goods that will not be produced locally does *nothing* but raise costs to consumers. Case in point: Putting tariffs on Banana's is senseless.

The end result of this is going to be exactly what happened the last three times the US tried it (1820's, 1890's, 1930's); this isn't going to be pretty. The most likely outcome is this results in China being the dominant player in the world economy, since no one is going to trust the US again for at least a generation.

The whole point of this is for the trade to be more fair. Since 1950, the U.S. has lost mineral, manufacturing, textile, and farming production to other countries due to the cost of the imports were less than produced here. The EPA laws, the OSHA laws and the taxes were overwhelming to the businesses and so they imported or moved to a country that was cheaper in all ways from doing business in the U.S. and sold the items for a larger margin. It is the consumers that run the gambit. More, more, more and cheaper! Now you say that $100 wiget is now $200 from the other country and here it will now be $175 to compete with 100% margin? That is not how business is done. If you make a 25% margin and your costs go up 25% you raise your price 25% more to make the same 25% margin, if you raise your price to match the competitor at 125% and you make a 100% margin you are the other problem, I have no problem with greed but when you do it and then complain about your costs going up and you are making a 100% margin I don't think this is capitalism works. Consumers drive pricing, an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. That is how the system works. No matter the costs to produce the item.

 

[AnilD]

The US tech scene right now feels like a reverse Black Friday — everything’s vanishing from shelves before you can buy it, and prices are about to double if they ever come back.

 

[Xelions]

"May I Sir?"

"You May..."

Trump, you are one dumb sh*t!

 

[rhavenn]

The whole point of this is for the trade to be more fair. Since 1950, the U.S. has lost mineral, manufacturing, textile, and farming production to other countries due to the cost of the imports were less than produced here. The EPA laws, the OSHA laws and the taxes were overwhelming to the businesses and so they imported or moved to a country that was cheaper in all ways from doing business in the U.S. and sold the items for a larger margin. It is the consumers that run the gambit. More, more, more and cheaper! Now you say that $100 wiget is now $200 from the other country and here it will now be $175 to compete with 100% margin? That is not how business is done. If you make a 25% margin and your costs go up 25% you raise your price 25% more to make the same 25% margin, if you raise your price to match the competitor at 125% and you make a 100% margin you are the other problem, I have no problem with greed but when you do it and then complain about your costs going up and you are making a 100% margin I don't think this is capitalism works. Consumers drive pricing, an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. That is how the system works. No matter the costs to produce the item.

The EPA exists because otherwise you get **** like this:
https://www.history.com/articles/epa-earth-day-cleveland-cuyahoga-river-fire-clean-water-act
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/hist...ozen-times-no-one-cared-until-1969-180972444/

A river, literally, catching fire. This was in the 1960s. Corporations haven't changed. You still have corporations cutting corners and pushing the limit of the toxic **** they can do / dump to cut costs and due to Republicans cutting funding to the EPA and similar agencies I would expect it to slowly get worse again.

OSHA exists because workers die / died on the job if they didn't. Corporations cut corners, cut "costs" and don't really care if someone loses some fingers, a hand or a life. People are replaceable, especially in the economy Trump is driving for. ie: the 1% and the poors.

Shrinkflation is a thing. Companies cut costs and will raise the price as high as the market can bear and if you have a product people want then yes, they will raise it to 100% profit if all their competitors are at 125% for cost. Again, however, the tariffs aren't really raising the costs to the end business selling you that widget. It's raising the costs on what you pay for that widget. That "tariff" is a tax paid by the purchaser and Trump seems to be wanting to put those "taxes" in his "sovereign wealth" fund. ie: his own pocket vs. even using it to replace the funds the government just lost with the tax cuts for the 1%.

 

[Robertrogue]

The EPA exists because otherwise you get **** like this:
https://www.history.com/articles/epa-earth-day-cleveland-cuyahoga-river-fire-clean-water-act
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/hist...ozen-times-no-one-cared-until-1969-180972444/

A river, literally, catching fire. This was in the 1960s. Corporations haven't changed. You still have corporations cutting corners and pushing the limit of the toxic **** they can do / dump to cut costs and due to Republicans cutting funding to the EPA and similar agencies I would expect it to slowly get worse again.

OSHA exists because workers die / died on the job if they didn't. Corporations cut corners, cut "costs" and don't really care if someone loses some fingers, a hand or a life. People are replaceable, especially in the economy Trump is driving for. ie: the 1% and the poors.

Shrinkflation is a thing. Companies cut costs and will raise the price as high as the market can bear and if you have a product people want then yes, they will raise it to 100% profit if all their competitors are at 125% for cost. Again, however, the tariffs aren't really raising the costs to the end business selling you that widget. It's raising the costs on what you pay for that widget. That "tariff" is a tax paid by the purchaser and Trump seems to be wanting to put those "taxes" in his "sovereign wealth" fund. ie: his own pocket vs. even using it to replace the funds the government just lost with the tax cuts for the 1%.

Well, guess that means that the U.S. should just keep buying products from the places that kill the environment and lets people lose digits and lives, as long as we don't put a tariff on it. Or if it doesn't cost us more money!

 

[gamerk2]

Now you say that $100 wiget is now $200 from the other country and here it will now be $175 to compete with 100% margin? That is not how business is done.

Yes it is, because that's what the market demands. Why would I as someone selling goods on the market settle for *half* the profit I could otherwise be making?

If you make a 25% margin and your costs go up 25% you raise your price 25% more to make the same 25% margin, if you raise your price to match the competitor at 125% and you make a 100% margin you are the other problem, I have no problem with greed but when you do it and then complain about your costs going up and you are making a 100% margin I don't think this is capitalism works.

Yes, this *is* how Capitalism works.

Consumers drive pricing, an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. That is how the system works. No matter the costs to produce the item.

And who do you think sets the price? If all cars cost $50k to purchase, guess what? It's worth $50k, because that's what you are going to purchase it for.

Simple example: Housing prices. Everywhere there is economic growth, the cost of housing immediately increases by *at least* a factor of two, if not more. Housing didn't suddenly become more expensive, what changed is the ability for people to purchase them at higher prices. Therefore: Prices go up in order to maximize profits.

My advice: Put your high-school level understanding of the "ideal" of Capitalism away, and learn how the markets *really* work.

 

[rhavenn]

Well, guess that means that the U.S. should just keep buying products from the places that kill the environment and lets people lose digits and lives, as long as we don't put a tariff on it. Or if it doesn't cost us more money!

That wasn't my point. My point is that off-shoring from the US to elsewhere by a business is about saving money and greater profit. period. If you want to on-shore all that stuff, but not want to make it more expensive you either need to be okay with stuff like rivers being on-fire, people getting injured, wage cuts, no actual new blue collar / factory jobs due to automation / robotics doing the grunt work or stuff will just be more expensive. However, since wages haven't kept up with inflation and the CPI, (see: corporations looking to make profits over anything else) your actual buying power has gone down, so even slight price increases hurt the people at the bottom of the economy a lot more than those at the top.

This doesn't even begin to scratch to the surface of not being able to just "snap" your fingers and start up a factory. It takes years of planning to move a major factory from A to B. So, in the mean time, enjoy the price increases due to the Trump tax on imported goods.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Well, guess that means that the U.S. should just keep buying products from the places that kill the environment and lets people lose digits and lives, as long as we don't put a tariff on it. Or if it doesn't cost us more money!

- So, shouldn't Trump have worked to deregulate and build a domestic industry *first* and then use tariffs to move purchasing over?

The biggest issues here are all around the execution. Trump seems to have swallowed the "invisible hand" Flavoraide and thinks that by just stirring **** the US will somehow have mines/logging companies/factories/etc just blossom out of the earth fully formed and ready to sell. Additionally his waffling, inconsistent approach, and taking on the whole world at the same time instead of taking a more piece meal approach of isolating foreign nations and bringing them to heel before moving on to the next one.

Complicating things further is Trump's xenophobic immigration policy which is draining the labor pool associated with the very people that build our factories and grow our food, which will making starting and growing domestic industries a time consuming and slower process than it would have had to have been.

So buried underneath everything is the seed of a *good* idea that has been executed so poorly that people are looking for any explanation (Russian agent? Billionaire stooge?) that explains the chaos while ignoring the one staring them in the face: Trump is just an incompetent ***** that has a goal and some ideas but no coherent concept (of a plan hurdur) of how to get from here to there.

 

[EvilRebar]

The whole point of this is for the trade to be more fair. Since 1950, the U.S. has lost mineral, manufacturing, textile, and farming production to other countries due to the cost of the imports were less than produced here. The EPA laws, the OSHA laws and the taxes were overwhelming to the businesses and so they imported or moved to a country that was cheaper in all ways from doing business in the U.S. and sold the items for a larger margin. It is the consumers that run the gambit. More, more, more and cheaper! Now you say that $100 wiget is now $200 from the other country and here it will now be $175 to compete with 100% margin? That is not how business is done. If you make a 25% margin and your costs go up 25% you raise your price 25% more to make the same 25% margin, if you raise your price to match the competitor at 125% and you make a 100% margin you are the other problem, I have no problem with greed but when you do it and then complain about your costs going up and you are making a 100% margin I don't think this is capitalism works. Consumers drive pricing, an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. That is how the system works. No matter the costs to produce the item.

Trying to maximize your margin is exactly how capitalism works, and every firm is trying to do so for shareholders.

That's why no one massively undercut Nvidia's last round of GPUs.

If foreign goods become insanely expensive, expect American firms to capitalize on the expanded pricing range.

To zoom out a bit, it's not like Americans have stopped manually making and selling things. (Manufacturing is actually very robust in the US, just with fewer workers due to automation.) They've just moved from factories to software and services. It's a questionable goal to try and make us all poorer by reshoring work that we're not particularly well-suited for. Indeed you see other countries like China "moving up the chain" as well to enrich their citizens, as the unskilled manual labor moves into places like Vietnam and Thailand.

 

[EvilRebar]

This doesn't even begin to scratch to the surface of not being able to just "snap" your fingers and start up a factory. It takes years of planning to move a major factory from A to B.

On top of this, modern supply chains get efficiencies from colocation. So your iPhone factory needs a hundred other factories nearby to be efficient.

 

[EvilRebar]

The biggest issues here are all around the execution. Trump seems to have swallowed the "invisible hand" Flavoraide

Massive protectionist tariffs are about as far from the "invisible hand" as you can get. This is about old men like Trump and Biden thinking that we can block foreign manufacturing and remake America into 1952, not unfettered capitalism. The board room members are tearing their hair out right now.

 

[rhavenn]

Massive protectionist tariffs are about as far from the "invisible hand" as you can get. This is about old men like Trump and Biden thinking that we can block foreign manufacturing and remake America into 1952, not unfettered capitalism. The board room members are tearing their hair out right now.

Ugh, pretty sure Biden wasn't planning on doing any of this nor would he. He actually listened to his advisors and had smart people around him. This is all Trump and/or Project 2025 and/or whomever is telling Trump what to do in-between spending $26mil+ of tax payer funds to pay himself with to go golfing at his own resort.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Massive protectionist tariffs are about as far from the "invisible hand" as you can get. This is about old men like Trump and Biden thinking that we can block foreign manufacturing and remake America into 1952, not unfettered capitalism. The board room members are tearing their hair out right now.

- "Invisible Hand" in this case is companies being forced by the "invisible hand of the market as guided by Government policy" to onshore.

A lot of American regulatory dogma revolves around creating market conditions that private actors react to in a favorable way.

It helps maintain the illusion of "free markets" and "Independent private actors" while still allowing the government some level of control over how the economy develops.

 

[EvilRebar]

Ugh, pretty sure Biden wasn't planning on doing any of this nor would he. He actually listened to his advisors and had smart people around him. This is all Trump and/or Project 2025 and/or whomever is telling Trump what to do in-between spending $26mil+ of tax payer funds to pay himself with to go golfing at his own resort.

Biden continued the Trump2016 Tariffs and squeezed American goods requirements into his legislation even when it broke the intent (we want to increase electric car usage - but not through inexpensive Chinese cars that would achieve this goal).

Trump being much worse doesn't make Biden not an outdated protectionist.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Biden continued the Trump2016 Tariffs and squeezed American goods requirements into his legislation even when it broke the intent (we want to increase electric car usage - but not through inexpensive Chinese cars that would achieve this goal).

Trump being much worse doesn't make Biden not an outdated protectionist.

- 90 Pause on all tariffs except for China now. Wait I thought tariffs were good and going to bring manufacturing back to the US or... wait what was the argument again?

Also, looks like this is just good old fashioned market manipulation dressed up in jingoism.

 

[rhavenn]

Biden continued the Trump2016 Tariffs and squeezed American goods requirements into his legislation even when it broke the intent (we want to increase electric car usage - but not through inexpensive Chinese cars that would achieve this goal).

Trump being much worse doesn't make Biden not an outdated protectionist.

Biden was doing "Build, Back, Better", the CHIPs Act...and was actually funding the building of factories, etc in the US and creating a lot of construction / blue collar jobs...to try and get some of that high-tech manufacturing out of Taiwan / China. He didn't just slap a blanket tariff on countries out of the blue and for no reason while expecting American manufacturing to just "spring up out of the ground". They were for specific goods and trying to counter-act the heavy subsidizing China does for BYD EVs and other items. China puts a heavy governmental hand on its own industry.

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2024/05/14/how-tariffs-compare-in-the-biden-and-trump-eras

He was actually trying to help guys like Tesla, Rivian, Ford, Chevy, etc...be able to compete in the EV marketplace without just handing them money straight up. It's more or less how a tariff is supposed to be used since BYD is not competing in a "free market" at all.

Trump is trying to kill the CHIPs Act (ie: remove any help in "building out" a local manufacturing base) or incentive to do so.

 

[DukeJukem]

Except that's not how it works.

Simple example: I currently sell a good as cheap as I can, for $100. An overseas competitor undercuts me, and sells for $75. Now tariffs come in and the overseas product sells for $200. Even if my product is not affected in any way, I'm immediately raising my prices to $175. Making over 100% more profit, while being cheaper then the competition. That's how Capitalism works.

Even disregarding the Capitalist reason why Tariffs do not work, you have the other inherent problems. Such as:

1) Goods will be more expensive, since manufacturing costs are higher here, period (and that's before you factor in materials cost; more on that in a second). More expensive goods means fewer goods sold. Fewer goods sold means fewer jobs needed to maintain production.

2) Materials costs go up, since the majority of them are not mined (nor can be) within the continental US. Leading to the same problem as above: Higher prices leading the fewer goods sold, leading to job losses.

3) Putting tariffs on goods that will not be produced locally does *nothing* but raise costs to consumers. Case in point: Putting tariffs on Banana's is senseless.

The end result of this is going to be exactly what happened the last three times the US tried it (1820's, 1890's, 1930's); this isn't going to be pretty. The most likely outcome is this results in China being the dominant player in the world economy, since no one is going to trust the US again for at least a generation.

So you increase your price when you don't have to since your product is unaffected? That's called greed but ok, sure, it's capitalism as well. I wonder what greedy person came up with the Capitalistic system anyway.

1. Import taxes don't raise manufacturing costs lol. Manufacturing = people/robots working. How does an import tax on you sending your stuff to the USA mean the boss has to pay the employee that doesn't work in the USA more or the electric bill at the company is higher? Insanely wrong lol. If anything the boss would be paying less now that he's being charged more to ship his product. So wrong lol.

2. Import taxes don't increase the price of the materials you're digging out of your own country. That's stupid.

3. True only if the manufacturers want their profits to remain equal instead of losing a % yet still making bank. A "MegaCorp" selling a product for 200% profit that gets tariffed 25% still makes 175% profit, it's just greed increasing the prices which is honestly pure ungratefulness for being ALLOWED to flourish in such a way to begin with. This is OUR country after all, so yes, this was ALLOWED.

Idk man I'm pretty sure you're completely wrong about everything you said lol except for you increasing your own prices of your product which you stated you didn't have to do.

 

[rhavenn]

So you increase your price when you don't have to since your product is unaffected? That's called greed but ok, sure, it's capitalism as well. I wonder what greedy person came up with the Capitalistic system anyway.

1. Import taxes don't raise manufacturing costs lol. Manufacturing = people/robots working. How does an import tax on you sending your stuff to the USA mean the boss has to pay the employee that doesn't work in the USA more or the electric bill at the company is higher? Insanely wrong lol. If anything the boss would be paying less now that he's being charged more to ship his product. So wrong lol.

2. Import taxes don't increase the price of the materials you're digging out of your own country. That's stupid.

3. True only if the manufacturers want their profits to remain equal instead of losing a % yet still making bank. A "MegaCorp" selling a product for 200% profit that gets tariffed 25% still makes 175% profit, it's just greed increasing the prices which is honestly pure ungratefulness for being ALLOWED to flourish in such a way to begin with. This is OUR country after all, so yes, this was ALLOWED.

Idk man I'm pretty sure you're completely wrong about everything you said lol except for you increasing your own prices of your product which you stated you didn't have to do.

I think you missed the point that points 1,2,3 were talking about if those jobs / services / materials were sourced in the US vs. where they are now or in point 2 that your sourcing your materials from foreign countries into the US, now paying a tariff on the material because it can't be sourced in the US, now your product is more expensive to make in the US.

1) It's pretty obvious that if you move your business from Vietnam to the US that, if you make no changes to how your business makes its widgets, that your labor costs will go up per widget and that will be passed on to the consumer.

2) if your business is already in the US and making widget A that needs a material you can't get in the US then your widget is now more expensive to make. If you combine this with moving from Vietnam, where that source material was cheap, to moving to the US and it's now all more expensive. Sure, it's possible someone will starting sourcing that material in the US for you, but it's most likely still going to be more expensive.

3) Tariffs are a tax on the consumer. They're paid by the consumer and/or importer. If a manufacture makes widget A in Vietnam and sells it to people in the US for 25% profit and then a %25 tariff is slapped on it then the consumer pays that extra 25% as a tax. The manufacture is still making 25% profit if people buy it at that higher cost. The manufacture may lose business and may then decide to sell their widget elsewhere, but at no point did they go from 25% profit to 0% profit because of the tariff. The manufacturer isn't the one paying the tariff. They may choose to lower their initial price to somewhat off set the tariff, but it may be easier to just go elsewhere as well.

What Is A Tariff And Who Pays It?

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taxpolicycenter.org