RENEE MONTAGNE, host: NPR's business news starts with the price of laptop computer.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Most of the laptops used in the world today are made by a few companies you may never have heard of. They have names like Quanta and Compal and they're in Taiwan. These companies make the laptops sold by more famous brands like HP and Dell. Over the last decade, HP and Dell have kept laptop prices low by forcing their Taiwanese manufacturers to absorb rising costs.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: But today the Financial Times quotes one of the Taiwanese companies as saying it will be raising prices for the first time. It can't continue absorbing the skyrocketing costs of raw materials like copper and nickel, as well as rising labor costs in mainland China, where the factories are located. If HP and other big brand names take on the added costs, analysts say it could soon be passed on to consumers.
During the past decade, HP and Dell have kept laptop prices low by forcing their Taiwanese manufacturers to absorb rising costs. But on Thursday, the Financial Times quotes the head of one of the Taiwanese companies saying "we'll be raising prices for the first time."