Valve has shut down the US servers for the Steam deck again as “sold out“marked. All three models, including the OLED variant, are currently unavailable, while stock still exists in UK and other stores. According to Valve, this situation could be “intermittent“, also temporarily, stop – an indication of the ongoing shortages of storage and flash memory.
Memory shortages hit gaming hardware hard
The root cause is the rapidly increasing demand for RAM. Analysts are already talking about a "RAMmageddon": Large AI data centers are buying up enormous quantities of memory, which is expected to drive prices up by as much as 172% by 2025. Valve itself is responding by discontinuing production of the Steam Deck LCD 256 GB. Once the last remaining stock is sold, this model will no longer be available.
The current shortage isn't just affecting handhelds: According to Bloomberg, Sony is considering... Postponing the launch of the PlayStation 6 to 2028 or 2029Because available memory chips could remain scarce and expensive. Apple and Tesla are also warning of production bottlenecks. Nintendo has not yet announced a price increase for the Nintendo Switch 2, but emphasizes that this could change if the memory crisis persists.
Price pressure due to rising component costs
Rising RAM prices are forcing manufacturers to pass on some of the increased costs to consumers. For the Steam Deck, this could mean that future batches will be more expensive or even more susceptible to short-term sell-outs. Valve already announced the release of... a few days ago Steam Machine and Steam Frame moved, a clear indicator of how much the current storage shortage is impacting the entire hardware market.
For buyers, this means: Anyone wanting to buy a Steam Deck now needs to be flexible. Models could sell out at any time, and price adjustments are possible.
The Steam Deck remains a technically sound device with unparalleled portability for PC gaming, but the current storage shortage demonstrates that even popular hardware is not immune to global supply bottlenecks. Buyers must weigh their options: those who act quickly secure a device but risk paying more or experiencing longer delivery times.
Those who wait risk a sell-off or future price increases; there is no clear strategic recommendation here, only the sobering realization: storage is becoming scarce, and this affects the entire industry.
4090, 64 GB DDR5 CL30, 8 TB SSDs (purchased February 02.2024)
ps5 pro
Switch 2 last week with the VAT promotion + €100 voucher, which I would never have used because of the €500 minimum order value.
I sleep peacefully and relaxed despite all the fear-mongering, and AI/Cloud/Streaming/Gamepass is being boycotted; not one cent will go to those who artificially created the problems.