Overview
- Valve engineers told Bloomberg on Monday that the global memory shortage is "still getting worse" and that what consumers see in retail lags bulk supply pricing by about three to six months.
- The Steam Machine launched at $1,049 for the 512GB model and is being sold by reservation and a waitlist because Valve is building only as many units as available memory allows.
- Pierre‑Loup Griffais of Valve said the company is manufacturing every unit it can but remains limited by memory capacity, creating constrained shipments and active secondary‑market resales of reservation slots.
- Industry voices including Microsoft and Lenovo report the same pressure from AI and data‑centre buying, with forecasts pointing to elevated memory prices into 2027 and relief unlikely until 2028.
- For consumers this means near‑term price relief is unlikely, higher hardware costs could spread across consoles and PCs, and buyers who want a Steam Machine face limited supply and possible future price increases.