This is coming from an Aussie who owned a Steam Deck for over a year via StockX. I know my country. Our consumer laws are no stricter than Europe’s. Yes it was our doing that Steam has a refund policy, but Europe forced USB-C on every company and they have Steam Deck. Both of these are good for the consumer so I have no qualms about those.
We have ROG Ally, which is a direct competitor to Steam Deck, Valve is literally losing money for their choice and their choice alone. Steam Decks work perfectly here, all the parts are AU certified besides the charger which is not even an issue for 99% of companies.
Is it our population? well why is Australia and New Zealand literally THE ONLY first-world countries to be locked out of buying a Steam Deck? Again, it’s Valve’s loss. Steam and PC gaming is HUGE in Australia. Go on Whirlpool and the entire general gaming forum is about PC. We had a shitload of people importing Steam Decks if they are in the know.
Stop using the government as an excuse. we have had 18+ games for a decade now, censorship is worse in the UK.
Finally, I have yet to hear Australians own up to the fact Steam Deck can’t be sold due to government. It’s always been from countries that are privileged to buy a Steam Deck.
I am sorry for the aggressiveness in this post but it needs to be said.
I’ve read your post 3 times and I’m still not 100% sure what the point is you’re trying to make.
There are a bunch of reasons that make it harder to supply Australia. All of them add up. The biggest difference is the population, how many people live in Europe, how many people live in Australia.
Steamdeck is made in China/Taiwan, it’s cheaper and faster to send things here than Europe or even USA (not by a lot for USA)
A lot of people have tried to make this excuse, it just doesn’t hold water.
The only standard that would even matter would be for the charger which has minimum standards (after lots of dodgy chargers causing fires) but that’s not a problem - Valve’s existing charger is already compliant since it’s approved in the EU (that’s an automatic pass)
Shipping isn’t a concern, you don’t need to run a warehouse here - just ship them from mainland China. You get all the postal union cheap postage (China is allegedly still a ‘developing nation’ so they have subsidised international postage)
Really only supply issues (not a problem anymore) and Gaben being salty factor in.
The charger made by Chicony is AU certified (checked the EESS ERAC database) but not available to buy on iFixit AU store which sells the charger in other regions like on the US store for the US.