Steam Deck: All orders placed are scheduled for delivery in 2022

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The words “game console” and “supply bottleneck” have become good friends over the past two years. Valve's handheld PC Steam Deck, which was released in early 2022, is also affected and is still not available from stock. However, after doubling production at the end of June, it should now be even faster.

Supply chain problems are disappearing into thin air

Just a few days ago, Sony again had to admit that it was still far from being able to meet the demand for the PlayStation 5. The global chip crisis, supply chain issues and lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are widely believed to be the culprits behind the ongoing shortages. Valve, on the other hand, is now surprising for the second time in a row with positive news: According to the manufacturer, it will be able to meet the demand for the Steam Deck faster than expected. Many of the supply chain outages affecting the Steam Deck are currently clearing up. According to Valve, this allows the production of the handheld to continue “faster than ever before”.

The blog post does not become more specific in this regard – so it remains open whether the parts required for the production of the Steam Deck are now more readily available, or whether Valve has found alternative sources of supply and components. At the end of June, for example, it became known that in theory only half as fast PCIe Gen3 × 3 SSDs are now being installed. According to the manufacturer, the performance for games will remain unchanged, but the step will presumably improve availability and give Valve more financial leeway for other components.

All previous orders should be delivered in 2022

In any case, thanks to the increased production capacities, it will now be possible to serve everyone currently in the queue for a Steam Deck in the current year. Some customers that Valve previously promised an order invitation in the fourth quarter of 2022 should also receive the corresponding email earlier in the third quarter – it is likely to be September. For new reservations, Valve is currently forecasting delivery in the fourth quarter.

Valve is not going into the docking station

Repeatedly, there is no further information on the planned docking station that Valve postponed indefinitely two months ago. In view of global heat waves, the manufacturer recently warned against excessively high ambient temperatures and the installation of longer M.2 SSDs in the steam deck that was not intended for this purpose. In principle, such storage media fit into the handheld console, but there are risks involved.