The ongoing AI-driven memory and storage crisis has severely impacted the availability and price of PC and gaming hardware. Now, Valve admits that RAM and storage shortages have affected Steam Deck OLED stock in the United States. With Valve discontinuing production of LCD models in December, all Steam Deck models are currently sold out in the United States.
Last week, the official US Steam Deck store page revealed that all three Steam Deck models (256GB LCD, 512GB OLED, and 1TB OLED) were out of stock. Valve has now confirmed that the ongoing chip crisis has impacted availability of its popular handheld device.
“Due to memory and storage shortages, Steam Deck OLED may be intermittently out of stock in some regions,” Valve said in a note on the US Steam Deck store page. Valve did not specify when Steam Deck OLED models will be back in stock.
steam engine delay
Earlier this month, Valve also confirmed that memory and storage shortages may ultimately delay the release of Steam Machine. The PC/console hybrid was originally slated to launch in “early 2026,” but the release window has been readjusted to “the first half of the year.”
Valve said in a statement that it planned to share Steam Machine pricing and release date for now, but that rising hardware prices have forced it to “revisit” those details. The company had difficulty determining the price of the steam engine. Valve has previously said the device will be priced the same as a PC with “the same performance level.”
Last December, Valve announced that it was discontinuing production of its most affordable Steam Deck model, the 256GB Steam Deck LCD. The LCD model is priced at $399 in the US and will no longer be available when supplies last. The memory shortage has now affected the availability of the 512GB and 1TB Steam Deck OLED models, which are priced at $549 and $649 respectively.
Steam engine rollout may be delayed
Photo Credit: Valve
RAM, memory shortage
Memory and storage shortages have hit the gaming hardware market hard, with RAM and SSD prices soaring. According to reports, Sony and Microsoft may end up delaying the launch of their next-generation consoles due to the ongoing chip crisis. Bloomberg reported on Monday that Sony is considering delaying the PS6 to 2028 or even 2029. The report also claims that Nintendo may increase the price of Switch 2 in 2026.
With the rapid expansion of AI data centers requiring large amounts of high-performance memory, the global consumer hardware market is facing a serious shortage of RAM and SSD storage. While supply has dwindled, prices for memory and storage have skyrocketed.
GPU prices have also increased significantly in recent months due to supply shortages. Last year, both Sony and Microsoft increased the prices of their current-generation consoles, the PS5 and Xbox Series S/X. The PS6 and next-gen Xbox were originally expected to release in 2027, but may now be delayed until after 2028.