Valve Corp increased the prices of its Steam Deck handheld gaming devices more than 40%, the latest example of an industrywide memory and storage chip crunch that has driven up prices of many consumer gadgets.
With the new rates, the 512-gigabyte Steam Deck with an OLED screen now sells for US$789 (RM3,137.30), up from US$549 (RM2,182), while the 1-terabyte model has risen to US$949 (RM3,773.51) – an increase of US$300 (RM1,192.89) over its original cost. Prior to the hikes, the Steam Deck had frequently been out of stock from Valve’s online store, with the company attributing the lack of supply to "memory and storage shortages.”
The OLED models are once again available, now at a higher price, with delivery estimates of three to five business days.
The volatility surrounding chip pricing has led Valve to hold off in announcing a price for its upcoming Steam Machine gaming console, which was announced in November. The company released its US$99 (RM392.27) Steam Controller in early May, but has yet to share availability details for the console and Steam Frame VR headset that were introduced alongside it.
Between the soaring cost of components and earlier US-imposed tariffs, gamers have had to contend with significant price increases for consoles and handhelds alike. Nintendo Co plans to raise the cost of its popular Switch 2 console to US$500 (RM1,980) starting September 1, long after Sony Group Corp and Microsoft Corp bowed to similar pressures and hiked the price of their respective consoles after several years on the market.
Lenovo Group Ltd, which also makes handheld gaming PCs, increased the prices of its Legion Go lineup by hundreds of dollars last month. – Bloomberg
