Valve's Steam Deck faces stock shortages as AI demand strains memory supply
The 4-year-old handheld is now 'intermittently' out of stock, with its entry model discontinued.
Deep Dive
Valve's Steam Deck handheld gaming PC is experiencing intermittent stock shortages in some regions due to industry-wide RAM and flash memory shortages driven by AI industry demand. The 256GB LCD model has been formally discontinued, raising the effective starting price from $399 to $549 for the OLED model. This supply crunch comes as Valve has already delayed its new Steam Machine and Steam Frame VR products.
Why It Matters
The AI hardware boom is now impacting consumer electronics availability and pricing, potentially stalling Valve's push into the PC gaming market.