Valve Warns RAM Prices Will Only Get Worse
▼ Summary
– Valve engineers report that the RAM shortage is worsening, with retail stock lagging behind bulk supply by three to six months.
– Steam Machine prices are expected to rise further by early 2027 due to ongoing sourcing difficulties.
– Valve is limited by memory capacity and builds as many units as possible with available components.
– The company has been unable to secure long-term contracts with RAM manufacturers, facing monthly price and quantity offers.
– A class action lawsuit against Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron for alleged price collusion may offer a potential solution.
If you were holding out hope that the ongoing RAM shortage, driven largely by the AI boom, might ease up soon, prepare for bad news. Engineers behind Valve’s Steam Machine have revealed that the supply crunch is actually worsening, with retail stock currently trailing behind bulk availability by a staggering three to six months. That means the already steep price tag on the Steam Machine could climb even higher.
During an interview with Bloomberg, as reported by PC Gamer, Valve engineers Yazan Aldehayyat and Pierre-Loup Griffais shared a grim outlook. Aldehayyat explained, “We knew there was going to be an issue with sourcing. But the extent was beyond anything we actually expected.” He added, “Honestly, it’s still getting worse. Just in case people are not aware. What people are seeing on retail shelves right now, from our observations, is lagging what we’re seeing from a bulk supply by at least three to six months.” Griffais echoed the sentiment, stating, “We’re basically building everything we can get our hands on. We’re limited by memory capacity, for sure.”
This isn’t the first time Valve has sounded the alarm. Last month, Griffais told Gamers Nexus that securing the DRAM necessary for the Steam Machine had been a nightmare because the company couldn’t lock down contracts with manufacturers. “Look, there’s no contracts,” he said in June. “There’s nothing. Like, those guys…they are…they give us a price every month or something and they say ‘You can buy that many’ and it’s yes or no. And if we say no, then they never talk to us again.”
There is, however, a faint silver lining. A class action lawsuit has been filed against the three largest RAM and chip makers,Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology,accusing them of colluding to artificially inflate prices. If that case gains traction, it could offer some relief. Otherwise, the outlook remains bleak. Short of someone inventing time travel to convince Sam Altman that ChatGPT was a bad idea,or to let us zip back to 2010 for cheap RAM and vintage Pokémon cards,we might be stuck with skyrocketing costs for the foreseeable future.
(Source: Kotaku)
