Valve Ends Steam Deck LCD Production: What It Means for Buyers

It is the end of an era. Three years ago, the Steam Deck changed the way we think about handheld PCs forever. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty awesome. And then it was updated with the Steam Deck OLED, which took everything that made the original great and made it better.

When that happened, two versions of the Steam Deck LCD were removed from the lineup. Now, the last version of the Steam Deck LCD is about to go away. Once the stock runs out, it will be gone forever. People on Reddit discovered this on Steam's website, and apparently, Valve has said that once this stock runs out, they will not be making any more LCD Steam Decks.

So if you have been sitting on the fence trying to decide whether or not you want to buy a Steam Deck, now is probably the time because you're never going to get one this cheap again.

Before we get into why we think Valve is ditching the LCD Steam Deck, we are very curious about what Steam Decks all of you are using. Are you using an LCD Steam Deck? Are you using an OLED Steam Deck? Are you using the OLED Steam Deck with the matte screen finish? Or the one with the glossy screen? Or maybe you're not using a Steam Deck at all.

Maybe you're on the fence and haven't picked one up, or you have another PC handheld. Let us know what you're using because we're really curious if it matches what we're thinking.

Valve might want to ditch the LCD on the Steam Deck because RAM is so expensive. We recently saw what someone in the comments labeled the "RAM apocalypse."

The price of memory has gone through the roof, soaring by more than 500% in certain places.

AI data centers are buying up a lot of RAM, leaving less for everyone else.

Lower RAM and higher demand are driving prices up, and RAM is getting really expensive. For Valve, if they want to cut costs without raising the price of the Steam Deck, trimming the lineup makes sense. Removing the cheapest version keeps the pricing of the other models stable and potentially makes RAM-related costs more manageable. Another reason Valve might drop the LCD Steam Deck is simply that everyone believes the OLED version is much better.

When the OLED Steam Deck launched, we wouldn't have said you need to upgrade right away. Still, if you were choosing between the LCD and OLED and were already in the market, the OLED was the obvious recommendation. Yes, it's more expensive, but it's a big upgrade. The screen is significantly better, and the original LCD screen is the weakest part of the original Steam Deck.

The OLED looks fantastic, consumes less energy, and the thinner panel allowed Valve to fit in a bigger battery. Because of all that, people like us consistently recommend the OLED over the LCD.

If customers overwhelmingly prefer OLEDs, Valve knows sales of LCDs will naturally decline, making it more logical to phase out LCDs.

Valve may also be motivated by production efficiency. Maintaining two different versions of the Steam Deck means two production lines: one for the LCD and one for the OLED. The internals are arranged slightly differently due to the screen's thickness and layout, so the two versions can't be produced identically.

Shutting down one production line could save substantial money, especially if the LCD model is no longer as popular.

The most practical reason might be the simplest: Valve likely bought a huge number of LCD screens when the Steam Deck launched, possibly restocking over the years, and they're finally running out. At this point, it may not make sense for them to continue buying LCD screens if the OLED version sells much better.

They do not want to sit on inventory. Manufacturing devices that end up sitting in a warehouse is the worst-case scenario for a hardware company. So when you combine the RAM surge, the cost savings from shutting down a production line, the dwindling stock of LCD panels, and the consistent recommendations pushing people toward the OLED model, phasing out the LCD Steam Deck makes a lot of sense.

If you want to pick up a cheap Steam Deck and upgrade it with an M.2 drive, you can save a lot of money right now instead of getting the OLED model.

However, if you're less price-sensitive, we recommend the OLED version because it's fantastic. But we want to know what you think the reason is that Valve is ditching the LCD Steam Deck.