AYANEO has become one of the world's leading creators of Windows and Android-based gaming handhelds, and its products are firm favourites among people who want to remain at the cutting edge of vintage emulation – so the announcement of the NEXT 2 was met with plenty of anticipation.
The next-generation Steam Deck beater was seen as AYANEO's flagship device, but with the ongoing RAM crisis driving up the cost of memory across consumer electronics, the future of the NEXT 2 just became a little less certain.
In a statement posted on the NEXT 2 IndiGoGo page, AYANEO has revealed that all pre-orders for the system have been suspended until further notice.
"When we launched NEXT 2, storage prices were already at a very high level," says the company, before adding:
"At that time, we were already under significant cost pressure. However, considering that many AYANEO fans had been looking forward to this product for a long time, we still decided to release it as planned and open pre-orders so as not to disappoint our supporters.
However, after the Chinese New Year, when we communicated with our suppliers again to confirm the latest storage procurement prices, we found that storage prices had increased to several times higher than before the holiday. Under such circumstances, the overall cost of the product has become far higher than our current selling price. Therefore, after careful consideration, we have decided to suspend the pre-orders of NEXT 2."
AYANEO goes on to point out that even before the handheld's crowdfunding campaign went live, "storage prices had already been rising for several months. At that time, we believed the price might be approaching its peak. Even if it meant making little to no profit—or even a slight loss—we still decided to move forward with the launch. However, what we did not expect was that storage prices would not only continue to rise but would increase even more rapidly. At present, the total cost of the product has far exceeded our selling price, even approaching twice the price we originally set. Under such circumstances, continuing to sell this product is no longer sustainable."
The decision has been driven by the belief that "continuing to sell NEXT 2 under the current circumstances could potentially harm the interests of consumers and ultimately affect the long-term development of the brand."
Those who have already pre-ordered the device will still get their units, and AYANEO is keen to stress that this situation is only temporary. "If storage prices return to more reasonable levels in the future, we may consider resuming the sale of NEXT 2. At this time, we cannot predict when storage prices will decline, but we will continue to closely monitor market changes."