(Credit: Ayaneo)
Ayaneo is no longer taking orders for its upcoming Windows handheld, a move it blames on the global memory shortage.
The Next 2 will ship to everyone who preordered the device, Ayaneo says on its Indiegogo page, as spotted by Android Authority. Prices for the Steam Deck-like Windows 11 device were already remarkably high at $1,999 for 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Now, the brand says rising memory costs have led it to suspend orders for the foreseeable future.
"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," the company said on Monday. "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 preorders of Next 2."
Ayaneo explains that it was open to incurring a small loss on the product, but that it is now untenable since the cost of production is now approaching “twice the price we originally set.”
The company offered $1,799 early-bird pricing on the lower-end Next 2, but two other versions had eye-popping price tags: $2,699 for 64GB of RAM and 1TB of storage or $4,299 for 128GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.
Ayaneo says this isn’t necessarily the end for the Next 2, calling it a temporary suspension of orders. “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.”
Some predict the memory crisis will continue throughout 2026, with various analysts claiming it may improve toward the end of 2027. Some suppliers believe it may be 2030 before we see a return to normal levels.