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Valve has announced a massive retail price hike for its popular handheld console, the Steam Deck OLED
The company cited surging global component costs and unavoidable logistics issues as the reasons behind the increase.
The entry-level 512GB model now costs USD789 (RM3,471), up from its original price of USD549 (RM2,415).
Meanwhile, the premium 1TB model surged to USD949 (RM4,175), a steep increase of USD300 (RM1,191) from its previous price of USD649 (RM2,855).
This price adjustment stems primarily from a severe shortage of RAM and memory chips
According to Mashable, skyrocketing demand from AI data centres has caused the prices of these two essential components to surge.
Valve noted that they would notify gamers if more price changes occur in the future.
With the global memory supply chain remaining highly volatile, experts predict further price adjustments could happen between now and 2028.
The handheld manufacturer is merely following broader market trends
Tech giants have already raised retail prices for the PlayStation 5, Switch 2, and Legion Go 2 due to the exact same supply chain issues.
Beyond making current hardware significantly more expensive, the ongoing component crunch also caused a major disruption for next-generation devices.
Development and production schedules for the upcoming PlayStation 6 and Steam Deck 2 were also temporarily delayed.
