AYANEO has paused preorders for its $1,999 Next 2 handheld gaming PC, citing a sudden spike in memory component prices that blew up its build costs. The company says the bill of materials has ballooned to nearly twice the original sticker, making the project untenable at current pricing.
It’s a gut punch for enthusiasts watching the boutique Windows handheld space push the limits of power and portability. AYANEO will honor existing preorders and maintain after-sales support, but new buyers are sidelined until the parts market cools.
Why AYANEO Hit Pause on Next 2 Preorders Over Costs
AYANEO attributes the suspension to “storage” costs, shorthand for the DRAM and NAND that dominate high-end handheld BOMs. The firm points to the AI-driven memory crunch that has rippled from data centers into consumer devices. As suppliers divert capacity to lucrative high-bandwidth memory for AI accelerators, pricing for conventional DRAM and flash has surged.
Market trackers back this up. TrendForce has reported multiple consecutive hikes in DRAM contract pricing, with PC and mobile DRAM climbing roughly 10–20% quarter to quarter in recent periods. NAND flash also swung sharply off its trough after aggressive production cuts by major vendors, with contract prices rising 20–30% or more. For a device offering 32GB to 128GB of RAM and up to 2TB of solid-state storage, that inflation is brutal.
AYANEO admits it launched preorders despite “significant cost pressure,” hoping the market would stabilize. Instead, memory quotes rose again, quickly turning a thin-margin product into a money-loser. When a handheld’s core components jump by double digits across multiple cycles, there’s little room left to absorb the shock without a redesign or a price hike.
Specs That Magnify the Next 2’s Escalating Costs
The Next 2 isn’t a modest build. It’s specced with AMD’s Ryzen AI Max 385 or Max Plus 395 chips, paired with 32GB, 64GB, or a staggering 128GB of RAM, and 1TB or 2TB of storage. A 9.06-inch 165Hz OLED panel and dual touchpads drive the premium positioning, while the headline feature is a massive 116.1Wh battery.
That battery eclipses many thin-and-light laptops and dwarfs rivals like the ROG Ally X at 80Wh. The trade-off is heft: at around 1.4 kilograms, the Next 2 carries serious weight for a handheld. When every major component is top-tier—and priced accordingly—sudden swings in memory costs can push the total BOM into unsustainable territory.
Pricing underscores the risk. The base 32GB/1TB model opened at $1,999, with early-bird slots at $1,799. The top 128GB/2TB configuration was advertised to early supporters at $3,499, well below its stated $4,299 target MSRP. If component outlays rise toward 2x the initial price, the math simply doesn’t work.
A Crowded Handheld PC Market Faces a Supply Shock
The pause lands amid a renaissance in handheld PCs, from Valve’s Steam Deck OLED to ASUS and Lenovo’s Windows-based entries. Larger brands hedge BOM volatility with volume and longer contracts; boutique makers like AYANEO, which rely on flexible preorders and crowdfunding storefronts, are more exposed to quarter-to-quarter price whiplash.
Analysts at Omdia and IDC have warned that AI server demand is distorting the memory supply stack, with capacity reallocated to premium HBM and advanced DRAM nodes. That leaves consumer-grade LPDDR5X and high-capacity SSDs to compete for tighter supply at higher prices. Devices configured with 64GB or 128GB of RAM feel that squeeze first.
For buyers, the immediate impact is fewer options at the ultra-premium end and likely sticker shock if sales resume at adjusted prices. For the category, it’s a reminder that handheld breakthroughs often hinge less on raw silicon and more on supply-chain timing.
What Happens Next for AYANEO and the Next 2 Project
AYANEO says the suspension is temporary and that preorders could reopen once memory quotes return to “more reasonable levels.” That could require a sustained easing in DRAM and NAND pricing or a reworked bill of materials to blunt volatility.
In the meantime, the company is proceeding with existing orders and maintaining support commitments. If component markets stabilize—as some researchers expect once AI capacity expansions come online—the Next 2’s ambitious formula may yet make a comeback, albeit at a price that reflects the new reality of premium handhelds.
