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Valve describes just how brutal RAM negotiations are in 2026 (www.theverge.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Valve’s Steam Machine finally has a price: a whopping $1,049 for the 512GB configuration or $1,349 for the 2TB version. And those are without bundled controllers, which drive up the cost more.

The prices are so high in part because Valve isn’t subsidizing the hardware, and the company has already indicated that the component crisis forced it to reconsider its initial pricing plans. In an interview with the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus, Valve engineers discussed the reality of sourcing RAM in 2026, with take-it-or-leave-it prices as memory and other components remain in short supply, from only a few vendors like Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix.

[...]

Valve, of course, isn’t the only company in a bind over memory shortages, as the crunch is forcing many hardware makers to make significant pricing changes. Even Apple CEO Tim Cook is warning of incoming price hikes for iPhones, Macs, and other devices. And the RAM crunch isn’t projected to get better anytime soon.

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[–] 13 points 2 months ago

Not my downvote, but I get it. The AI cartel bought out the RAM manufacturers. The "AI circle" of companies is definately fucking over the market and not just in ways that lead to them getting their job done. They didn't just stop making ram. They slowed it wayyy down, causing prices to skyrocket. They will likely make tons of money from the AI memory towers on orders for datacenters that might not even be allowed to exist, but they're certainly making multiple times more money on their old lines producing the same product they always have.

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