Valve's Steam Deck OLED, our current pick for the best handheld gaming PC, is suddenly out of stock on Steam in the US and from partner Komodo in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan.
The stock issue began late last night, according to deal hunter Wario64. While the company stopped production of the LCD Steam Deck in December, there has been no suggestion that the OLED model was on the way out.
On Reddit, some users in Europe are stating that they still see stock. On the gaming forum ResetEra, some users in Japan say they see a note on Komodo that stock will return in February. The US store has no such note, though you can still add the device to your Steam Wishlist.
Valve has not responded to requests for comment as of publication.
Speculation is intense, as Valve has had to delay the Steam Machine and Steam Frame and is reconsidering its pricing strategy due to component shortages. It's unclear where Steam Deck manufacturing falls in the company's plans — if at all.
Unlike some PC manufacturers, such as HP and Dell, Valve's scale isn't that of a global hardware giant. While some are wondering if there's a Steam Deck 2 imminent (Valve hasn't suggested it), others are talking online about the cost of making a Steam Deck as the price of memory and storage skyrocket. It's unlikely that Valve has the same backlog of components as do its competitors that specialize in consumer hardware, which could make producing the Steam Deck very expensive.
Valve likely already sells the Steam Deck at a loss. Owners primarily buy a Steam Deck to purchase games through the Steam storefront, and Valve collects a 30% cut of said game sales.
Even without the entry-level pricing of the LCD model, the $549 512GB OLED and $649 1TB options are still relatively affordable compared to competition, such as the $999.99 Asus ROG Xbox Ally X or the $1,349.99 Lenovo Legion Go 2. (The Asus ROG Xbox Ally is $599.99, but it was largely panned at release.)
This might just be a blip, in which case it may be quickly forgotten. But if it continues, it could be another sign of what we already know will be an incredibly difficult year for gaming and consumer electronics in general.
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