In a somewhat surprising twist, the Steam Deck is getting a price increase in the Asian countries of Japan, Taiwan and Korea, effective March 6, but it has nothing to do with RAM shortages or component price increases, which has been the case for several other similar price hikes for consoles, handhelds and storage devices.
As first reported by Famitsu, the Steam Deck OLED, according to KOMODO, is receiving a price increase as a “result of careful consideration, taking into account the rising logistics costs that have continued since the console’s launch, as well as recent fluctuations in the exchange rate environment.”
The prices in Japan, which will see a 15,000 Yen increase, will now be as follows:
- 99,800 yen for the 512GB model (previous price: 84,800 Yen)
- 114,800 yen for the 1TB model (previous price: 99,800 Yen)
In Taiwan:
- New Taiwan Dollar TWD 18,980 for the 512GB model (old price 18,880 TWD)
- TWD 22,480 TWD for the 1TB model (old price 21,989 TWD)
In Korea:
- South Korean won 898,000 for the 512GB model (previous price of KRW 839,000)
- KRW 1,048,000 for the 1TB model (previous price of KRW 989,000)
Prices in Hong Kong, per the release, will remain the same.
Steam Deck Is The First Of Many RAM Shortage Tragedies In Video Games
Valve’s handheld is out of stock right now thanks to RAM and memory shortages.
Those increases come on the heels of the Steam Deck being totally out of stock in the United States, with its now discontinued LCD model, plus its OLED models no longer being available for purchase, at least for the time being.
It’s The Wild Wild West For Pricing
“Note: Steam Deck OLED may be out-of-stock intermittently in some regions due to memory and storage shortages. Steam Deck LCD 256GB is no longer in production, and once sold out, will no longer be available,” a disclaimer on Valve’s own website read.
Whether future price increases, due to RAM shortages, ultimately take effect remains to be seen. It’s also similarly unseen whether Steam will similarly raise prices in the U.S. when its own consoles return to stock.
Either way, consumers are finding themselves absolutely pinched by the AI boom that has every piece of electronics imaginable short, forcing price hikes across the board. Just recently, the viral dual-screen OLED emulator, the AYN Thor, announced its intentions for a second price increase.
If that wasn’t enough cause for concern, one of the largest video game preservation projects has announced its intentions to shut down due to increased costs and the inability to fortify its HDDs and other necessities.
The situation has put companies in a tough spot, with Sony mulling a longer lifecycle for its PlayStation 5 consoles, and Nintendo potentially having to reckon with a price hike on its not-even-a-year-old Switch 2, all largely for the same reasons.
If you can swing it, then there’s truly no better time to buy things than right now.
- Brand
-
Steam (Valve)
- Original Release Date
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February 25, 2022
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$399–$649
- Operating System
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SteamOS 3 (Arch-based)
- Processor
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Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
- Resolution
-
1200 x 800
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