• Manage & Optimize
• May 5, 2025

If you’re feeling the financial pinch of this year’s rising IT hardware costs—you’re not alone. But there’s a smarter way forward, and Citrix has your back.

In 2025, new U.S. tariffs have pushed IT hardware prices into uncharted territory. With costs rising sharply for laptops and PCs, refreshing your endpoints has become more challenging — and your IT budget is likely under serious pressure.

And that pressure isn’t going away.

So how do you keep your systems modern and secure—especially with the transition to Windows 11 on the horizon, with Windows 10 reaching end-of-life October of this year—without blowing your budget?

Meet Unicon eLux: a lightweight, secure OS that transforms existing hardware into modern, efficient endpoints built for virtualized environments.

The tariff reality: What’s happening?

IT hardware prices are climbing fast—and they’re likely to stay high. The April 2025 tariffs are already driving cost hikes, and experts suggest further increases could follow as supply chain pressures and upgrade demands mount.

Canalys notes that while shipments surged early in the year due to pre-tariff stockpiling, future quarters may face a slowdown as higher prices begin to bite.

With uncertainty around how much more prices could rise, many Citrix customers are facing tough choices—delay upgrades, reduce headcount, or absorb the extra costs.

Or… pivot.

Why Citrix customers are choosing eLux

With eLux, you don’t need to rip and replace your IT hardware to stay compliant or ready for Windows 11. Instead, you can extend the life of your existing endpoints and unlock modern features through our hardened OS.

Here’s how it works:

• Boot to VDI: eLux boots directly into your Citrix environment without the local bloat, update fatigue, or licensing headaches of a traditional OS.
• Hardware agnostic: eLux runs on x86 devices—even aging PCs and laptops. No need to buy new hardware at tariff-inflated prices.
• Secure and lightweight: Built for centralized IT management, eLux reduces the local attack surface while giving you full control via Scout, our endpoint management solution.
• Fast deployment: Migrate endpoints in minutes using USB provisioning or network-based rollouts.

eLux helps you sidestep today’s sky-high hardware costs, future-proofs your endpoint strategy and helps improve your organization’s security posture.

Network optimization without hardware headaches

As businesses evaluate ways to reduce hardware spending, it’s not just endpoints that matter. Networking infrastructure is also under pressure. Fortunately, Citrix offers another path forward.

You don’t need to purchase a physical appliance to take advantage of NetScaler. NetScaler software can be deployed flexibly on your existing infrastructure, in your data center, or in the cloud.

By running NetScaler as software, organizations can expand or optimize network capabilities without the added cost and procurement delays associated with tariff-inflated hardware. It’s a smart way to stay agile and resilient in today’s volatile IT landscape.

Future-proof without the premium

Let’s face it: no one can predict where tariffs will land next quarter. But you can take control of your costs now.

With eLux and NetScaler software solutions, you’re not just avoiding the hardware trap—you’re stepping into a scalable, secure, and sustainable future. It’s how modern IT leaders are doing more with less—without compromising user experience.

Spend smarter with Citrix

Don’t wait for the next price hike to take action! If you are facing these challenges, let us know. Citrix can give you the edge to thrive in 2025’s complex IT landscape.

Philipp Benkler

Philipp Benkler is the former CEO of Unicon and current Vice President of Product at Citrix.