The RAMpocalypse has bought Microsoft valuable time in the fight against SteamOS

Evaporated Steam Valve’s Steam Machine was poised to expand on the Steam Deck’s success, but it’s currently in limbo, and the Deck is, too. Credit: Valve Valve’s Steam Machine was poised to expand on the Steam Deck’s success, but it’s currently in limbo, and the Deck is, too. Credit: Valve But Valve’s push to compete directly with Microsoft and PC hardware makers has hit a wall, at least for now: huge cost increases and supply increases for all kinds of PC components, particularly memory and storage chips. Problems that started to affect the market for PC components in late 2025 are now being felt across the entire consumer tech industry. Chip manufacturers are all chasing the generative AI gold rush, which has an all-consuming need for memory, storage, GPUs, and (increasingly) even CPUs. This means less manufacturing capacity for the components that go into consumer-grade hardware, and more fighting over the supply that’s left. Prices that were already being pushed upward by the Trump administration’s now-illegal tariffs are now being pushed upward by shortages instead. This has been particularly rough for anybody trying to make inexpensive or low-margin hardware. Game console price cuts, already a thing of the past thanks to the death of Moore’s Law , have given way to price hikes instead. …