Engineers at Valve have indicated that the ongoing shortages of RAM are not only continuing but are expected to worsen, with retail memory prices significantly lagging behind bulk supply levels. This situation is directly impacting Valve's ability to produce its Steam Machine hardware.
Yazan Aldehayyat and Pierre-Loup Griffais, both engineers on the Steam Machine project, shared insights into the memory supply chain in a recent interview. They stated that current retail stock availability is approximately three to six months behind what Valve is observing in bulk supply channels. Aldehayyat noted that the extent of the sourcing issues surpassed their initial expectations, commenting, "We knew there was going to be an issue with sourcing. But the extent was beyond anything we actually expected." Griffais added, "We’re basically building everything we can get our hands on. We’re limited by memory capacity, for sure."
This situation echoes previous statements made by Griffais, who in June described the difficulty in securing DRAM for the Steam Machine. He explained that Valve has struggled to establish contracts with memory manufacturers, operating on a month-to-month basis where prices are set and quantities are offered with little room for negotiation. "There’s no contracts. 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," Griffais stated.
Looking ahead, Valve's engineers anticipate that prices will continue to rise. They project that the cost of memory will likely increase further by the start of 2027. The company's production is currently constrained by the availability of these essential components.
A potential avenue for relief could come from a class action lawsuit filed against major RAM and chip manufacturers, including Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology. The lawsuit accuses these companies of colluding to artificially inflate RAM prices. However, the outcome of this legal action remains uncertain. As it stands, the outlook for more affordable RAM in the near future appears bleak, with Valve's internal projections suggesting the situation is far from resolved.