Steam Deck sells out in North America within 24 hours of price hike

Steam Deck OLED listings in the US and Canada show “out of stock” again less than 24 hours after renewed availability at a higher MSRP. Spot checks indicate availability in Europe and Australia, and in some Asian countries through Valve’s partner Komodo. Sales at the new price were sufficient to push the hardware to the top of Steam’s Top Sellers list based on revenue over the last 24 hours, even though revenue ranking may not reflect the number of units sold. Valve’s store page warns of intermittent out-of-stock periods due to memory and storage shortages, a warning present since February. The shortage may persist as Valve prepares for the planned Steam Machine launch. Alternative options include buying Steam Deck units on eBay near or below retail, finding Lenovo Legion Go S widely available at higher prices, and modding SteamOS onto the ROG Ally and ROG Ally X.

"Less than 24 hours after Valve announced renewed availability of the Steam Deck OLED (at a massively increased MSRP), the handheld is once again listed as "out of stock" in the US and Canada. Spot checks of other regional Steam stores on Thursday morning showed the hardware as still available across Europe and Australia for the time being, as well as in Asian countries through Valve's sales partner Komodo."

"While it's hard to know from the outside just how many Steam Deck units sold at the new inflated price, those sales were enough to once again boost the hardware to the top of Steam's Top Sellers list. That list is based on total revenue over the last 24 hours, though, so the $789 Steam Deck could easily have sold many fewer distinct copies than the highest-ranked software on the current list, the $70 007 First Light."

"Valve's Steam Deck store page notes that the handheld "may be out-of-stock intermittently in some regions due to memory and storage shortages." But that warning first appeared on the store site back in February, and stock-tracking websites show there have only been exceedingly brief availability windows for Steam Deck purchases between then and now."

"That suggests today's "intermittent" shortage could last for a while, especially as Valve is now likely including preparations for the planned launch of the Steam Machine in its significant reported hardware shipments from China. For those who can't wait for a SteamOS-powered handheld, new and pre-owned Steam Deck units (both OLED and non) are selling around or below Valve's retail pricing on eBay."

Read at Ars Technica