The ongoing headache of RAMnarök has seen hardware prices rise and Valve’s Steam Decks go out of stock in certain regions of the world. So, today’s announcement that Steam Deck OLED prices in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are set to rise next month is the sort than might have you clutching your wallet. Though, having done some number exchanging, I can confirm that these hikes don’t actually send the affected regional prices vaulting a huge amount beyond their UK and US equivalents.

First, the details of the increase. As reported by Famitsu, Komodo Station – Valve’s appointed Deck sellers in Asia – have announced that the handheld’s OLED variants will cost more in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan starting March 6th.

Komodo say raising these prices has been a “difficult decision”, and is down to “increased logistics costs and shifting exchange rate conditions that have persisted since the initial launch of Steam Deck”. While memory shortages aren’t explicitly mentioned, that vague bit about logistics costs sounds like it could potentially factor in or be impacted by extra difficulty in getting ahold of parts.

Now, the numbers. In Japan, the 512GB OLED Deck is going from ¥84,800 to ¥99,800, an increase of ¥15,000. Converting to UK and US currency, that’s roughly an increase from £402/$544 to £474/$637. For reference, the current 512GB OLED deck prices in the UK and US are £479 and $549. So, these new marks are very similar to the UK price, but a decent chunk more than the US one.

Turning to the more expensive 1TB OLED Deck, it’s gone from the new 512GB model price of ¥99,800 to ¥114,800, another ¥15,000 increase. Converting over, that’s a jump from around £474/$637 to £545/$733, with current 1TB OLED Deck prices in the UK and US being £569 and $649. Again, just below the UK equivalent price, nearly $100 more than the US one.

To round things out, South Korean OLED Decks are going up to ₩898,000 (about £459/$620) and ₩1,048,000 (about £536/$723) from March 6th, while those in Taiwan will cost NT$18,980 (about £449/$605) and NT$22,480 (about £531/$716). Meanwhile, Deck prices in Hong Kong won’t change next week, with Komodo noting “the impact is relatively limited” there.

So, these Asian price changes are sending rather mixed signals, which make it harder to draw conclusions in terms of what they might portend when it comes to potential hikes in the Anglosphere. The sparing of Hong Kong, though, could be interpreted as a point in the camp of everything being decided on a per-region or per-country basis, rather than across-the-board price rises being instituted.

I can at least confirm that in this case, Deck prices in the affected countries haven’t ballooned a shockingly massive amount beyond where Deck prices on Sadness Island and stateside are pitched as of writing.

This has been your all too regular now bit of hardware price sweating amid numerous reasons for hardware price sweating.