Valve has announced that its upcoming range of Steam Hardware will be delayed and prices may be higher than expected, thanks to global memory and storage shortages caused by the AI boom.
In a post published this week on the Steam hardware blog, Valve said that it had hoped by now to share specific prices and launch dates for three new products – the Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame.
However, the industry-wide shortage of memory and storage components has caused the company to push back its shipping schedule and revisit its pricing.
“Our goal of shipping all three products in the first half of the year has not changed,” Valve said.
“But we have work to do to land on concrete pricing and launch dates that we can confidently announce, being mindful of how quickly the circumstances around both of those things can change.”
Announced in November last year, the updated Steam Machine features a semi-custom AMD CPU and GPU capable of 4K gaming at 60 FPS, up to 2TB of storage, and a built-in wireless adapter for the Steam Controller, all packed in a tiny form factor.
The Steam Frame is the latest iteration of Valve’s VR headset, designed to be powerful, wireless and lightweight. It supports both VR and non-VR gaming and can either stream games from your PC or be used for standalone play.
The new Steam Controller will feature a range of improvements over the previous iteration, including high-definition rumble, grip-enabled gyro with capacitive touch, and a wireless transmitter puck that also acts as a charging station.
AI data centre demand is an industry-wide problem
This disheartening news for PC gamers is a direct result of the rapidly growing AI industry, as data centres spring up across the world to run ever more powerful models.
Demand from data centres for DRAM continues to outstrip supply, creating an imbalance felt across the wider computing industry.
The IDC notes that this unprecedented demand for memory from AI data centres has caused a crisis in both the smartphone and personal computing industries.
Valve is just one of many gaming companies that will be forced to push back the launch of new hardware or hike their prices as a result.
The cost of a smartphone is heavily dependent on the cost of memory, with this component accounting for up to 20% of the price of a mid-range Android device.
This means that as memory prices surges, manufacturers will have to raise prices, cut specifications, or both.
This could lead to the smartphone market contracting by over 5% in 2026, the IDC said.
A similar problem faces the PC market, with manufacturers already warning of 20% price hikes across the board.
Budget and mid-range devices are expected to feel the most pain as their price tags inflate and specifications are watered down.
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