Steam Deck Weekly Sales Plunge 82% —Is Valve Handheld in Trouble?

Steam Deck has not been part of the conversation much lately, mostly overshadowed by discussion of the Steam Machine and other handhelds. That changes with a new report on the state of Deck sales, and the numbers paint a rough picture for Valve's original handheld. This drop is in line with choices Valve made earlier this year.

Boiling Steam, a site that monitors Steam hardware trends, has looked at recent sales data for the Steam Deck and found some not-so-good news. The study says that weekly shipping for the Steam Deck has dropped by 82% compared to the past. One of the lowest points in the Steam Deck's history, around 1,400 units are being sold each week as of July 2026.

Price Increases and Discontinued Models Behind the Drop

Valve stopped making the LCD versions of the Steam Deck at the start of 2026, leaving only the OLED versions on store shelves. It was expected that overall sales would go down since there were fewer models to choose from and prices were higher than before. We remember that the Steam Deck cost around $400 when it first came out, which made it easy for many people to buy.

At this point, the base model costs almost $800, putting it out of the price range for many people who were considering buying one. This downturn is largely the direct result of decisions made by Valve. There is not much else that could have prevented it aside from avoiding the steep price increase in the first place.

We do not think Valve is especially concerned about this outcome, since it was a fairly predictable result of those changes. Valve's attention is clearly on the Steam Machine right now, with the Steam Deck 2 expected to follow sometime in the next couple of years. Because of that shift in focus, the current sales slump for the original Steam Deck is unlikely to be treated as a pressing internal issue.

Why Buyers are Looking Elsewhere

Even with the drop, these numbers are not the worst outcome we could have imagined, though they land lower than what Valve probably expected. When a Steam Deck costs close to a thousand dollars in 2026, plenty of buyers decide to spend that money elsewhere. SteamOS has become far more accessible on other devices, so it makes sense that people are turning to alternatives.

The Legion Go, once considered one of the strongest Steam Deck competitors, is no longer as compelling an option either. You can install SteamOS directly on an older ROG Ally or a new Xbox Ally X, and the Xbox Ally X sits at around a thousand dollars, nearly matching the price of the 1TB Steam Deck OLED. Better alternatives now exist for buyers weighing their options.

If you are looking to buy a handheld right now, the original ROG Ally X preferably purchased used, stands out as a strong choice. Listings for it regularly appear on eBay in the $500 to $600 range, depending on condition, and units have occasionally gone as low as $450, though those deals are rare.

It is a device that is not often discussed, largely because it launched as an awkward mid-generation refresh just as buyers began looking ahead to next-generation handhelds. Even so, it remains an appealing pick thanks to its 24GB of memory, an upgrade from the 16GB found in the original Ally and a meaningful spec bump.

Does this Signal the End of Steam Hardware?

It also uses faster memory and includes an 80Wh battery, refines the cooling system, and addresses several issues present in the original design. That includes fixing the microSD card slot that was prone to damage and making SSD upgrades far more straightforward by removing earlier restrictions on dual-sided SSD compatibility.

We see the ROG Ally X as a genuinely worthwhile upgrade over the Steam Deck, and it remains fully compatible with SteamOS. Some speculation has suggested that this collapse in Steam Deck demand signals trouble ahead for Valve's broader hardware plans.

We think that take is a bit exaggerated. Valve is likely aware that much of the current slowdown is not simply a matter of interest disappearing. Building and shipping hardware right now is difficult given global supply conditions, whether that involves tariffs or pricing pressure tied to the ongoing AI-driven demand for memory and components.

Even so, we do not see this as marking the end of Steam hardware. It is more likely that Valve will pause and keep the Steam Deck and Steam Machine on shelves longer than originally planned.

Earlier expectations pointed toward a Steam Deck 2 launching as soon as next year, but that timeline now looks far less likely. We expect any real news on a successor to stay quiet until at least 2028, and possibly not until late that year.

Valve discontinued LCD Steam Deck models in early 2026, leaving only higher-priced OLED versions available.

None of this means the Steam Deck has become obsolete, especially for anyone mostly playing indie titles or less demanding games. You can still expect a solid overall experience from the hardware, which remains enjoyable to use even if it is no longer the fastest option on the market. Plenty of alternatives exist now, but those still using a Steam Deck regularly are likely having a good experience with it.

 Even after Valve eventually moves on from the Steam Deck, its community has consistently found ways to keep the hardware relevant well beyond its official support window. Steam Deck remains one of the easier ways to play PC games on the go, even if buying one immediately is not the best move right now.

The success of its early years shows that there is demand for this kind of hardware and that Valve is capable of building and selling a product people want. The current circumstances are simply unfortunate, not unlike the supply and shipping issues Valve faced when the Steam Deck first launched during the tail end of the pandemic, when demand for the device also outpaced what the company could deliver.

This looks like another rocky stretch in what has otherwise been a long run for the Steam Deck.