Valve's Steam Deck OLED is out of stock in the US, and I think we can guess why

• Valve's Steam Deck OLED is out of stock in the US, and reportedly in some regions in Asia
• The RAM crisis appears to be the culprit, as Valve is likely facing memory and storage shortages
• Valve is yet to officially confirm why its OLED handheld is out of stock

As Valve continues to prepare for its upcoming Steam Machine 'console-style' PC and the Steam Frame VR headset, concerns about pricing and availability are growing – and a recent development may not do much to ease fears.

Valve's Steam Deck OLED is currently out of stock in the US, and apparently in Japan too, as reported by Tom's Hardware. This includes the LCD model that was discontinued in December 2025 (for US consumers), and is on the verge of leaving the market in all regions once stock finally runs out.

While Valve hasn't confirmed why stock for the Steam Deck OLED has suddenly dried up, we can infer that the ongoing RAM crisis may be the culprit – or at the very least, that it's having a significant impact on the matter.

There's a significant memory shortage for many PC manufacturers, ultimately driving up the cost of production for devices like the Steam Deck OLED, as demand for RAM has skyrocketed due to the rapid expansion of AI data centers.

It's also worth noting that stock in the US for the Steam Deck OLED was stable in the latter half of 2025 and earlier in January this year, until a sudden major drop in February. The sudden shift to no stock is a telltale sign that the RAM crisis has either forced Valve to reconsider pricing for the OLED models or push for a bigger production focus on the Steam Machine – or worse, an early sign of the Steam Deck OLED's discontinuation.

While Valve hasn't directly commented on the Steam Deck stock issues yet, the RAM crisis is confirmed to be a direct cause of the Steam Machine's recent delay, as Valve is taking its time to consider pricing and availability, citing 'memory and storage shortages' (no surprise there).

It's not a reach, then, to suggest that Valve's beloved handheld could be facing the same issues right now, especially since the PC hardware market is in such an unstable state. We've seen the likes of Microsoft and Sony forced to increase prices for the Xbox Series X | S and PS5 consoles, respectively, but this was seemingly for different reasons (including the recent US tariffs imposed by Donald Trump), as Sony recently stated that it has 'secured stock' of PS5 units and won't be raising the price due to RAM shortages... not yet, anyway.

With the Steam Machine's release still slated for early 2026, Valve should be sharing updates soon on pricing and availability, which should finally address consumers' concerns about affordability. However, the Steam Deck OLED's lifespan on the market might finally be in question, especially if this memory shortage continues.

The best handheld games consoles for all budgets

➡️ Read our full guide to the best handheld games consoles
1. Best overall:
Nintendo Switch 2
2. Best for PC gamers:
Steam Deck OLED
3. Best budget
Nintendo Switch Lite
4. Best for remote play:
PlayStation Portal

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.