Asus and Lenovo’s handhelds get price hike as Valve pauses some Steam Deck sales
The first third-party SteamOS handheld, the Lenovo Legion Go S, was supposed to cost $499. The Asus ROG Ally X became the best Windows gaming handheld at a $799 sticker price. But ahead of the Nintendo Switch 2's launch on June 5th and Microsoft's Xbox Ally announcement on June 8th, Asus and Lenovo's handhelds suddenly […]
The first third-party SteamOS handheld, the Lenovo Legion Go S, was supposed to cost $499. The Asus ROG Ally X became the best Windows gaming handheld at a $799 sticker price. But ahead of the Nintendo Switch 2's launch on June 5th and Microsoft's Xbox Ally announcement on June 8th, Asus and Lenovo's handhelds suddenly cost $100 more than originally promised in the US.
And, separately, Valve has temporarily stopped selling the $649 1TB model of its Steam Deck OLED in the US and Canada, citing unspecified supply chain constraints:
Steam Deck OLED 1TB models are temporarily out-of-stock in the US and Canada as we adapt to recent supply chain constraints. We anticipate being back in stock by end of summer, and currently expect prices will remain the same. We'll update here as soon as we have more clarity on what the timeline ultimately looks like.
Mind you, the $549 512GB Steam Deck OLED is the model I'd recommend anyhow. But combined with the fact that the Intel-powered MSI Claw AI 8 Plus also got a $100 price hike shortly after launch, it feels like Windows makers are no longer meaningfully competing with the the Steam Deck or Switch 2, and I'm beginning to wonder if Microsof …
