The Steam Deck availability has been spotty in the U.S. And in various parts of Asia since the first half of February, and Valve finally confirmed that this is due to memory and storage shortages in some regions. Unfortunately, it seems that the shortage has now spread worldwide, with GamingOnLinux reporting that Canada and Europe are also out of stock of the popular handheld.
We also checked Steam Deck availability in various regions and confirmed that the console isn’t available in several EU countries, Canada, and Japan, although you can still get it at the time of writing if you’re in Australia, the U.K., Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. It should be noted, though, that the LCD version is no longer in production — that’s why it’s out of stock everywhere. It’s unclear when we’ll get the Steam Deck back in stock in the affected regions, though Valve’s partner in East Asia, Komodo Station, estimates it will be back in stock by the end of this month.
The memory and storage chip shortage that’s affecting this popular handheld gaming console is driven by the AI boom. Several tech companies and hyperscalers are pouring billions of dollars into building data centers that demand hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of AI GPUs. Since these heavily funded firms are willing to pay top dollars for HBM and NAND chips, memory and storage chip fabs are allocating more of their production capacity to these customers to the detriment of the consumer market.
RAM modules and SSDs were among the first components hit by the shortage, with prices increasing by 2X to 5X from last year. This means you’ll be in a world of pain if you need a new RAM kit or storage drive today — if that’s the case, then you should consult our RAM price tracker and SSD price tracker to get the best deals available at the moment.
Laptop manufacturers were the next to go, with mainstream companies like Dell and Lenovo and niche firms like Framework announcing back-to-back price hikes. Even Apple, with its famously deep pockets, admitted that the memory situation will have a greater impact on its Q2 earnings and that the company is already chasing memory supply.
It seems the ripples of the chip shortage are now spreading to gaming systems, with the Steam Deck the first to be hit hard. Thankfully, the other devices on our best handheld gaming PCs list are still available at the moment, though they tend to be more expensive than the Valve handheld. So, if you’re in the market for a handheld console, you'd better get one right now while stocks are available.
Follow 3DTested on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.
