Pretty much the majority of people who ordered, like not too long after it's February release date didn't end up getting their devices shipped until 6-9+ months later.
Real mass availablity and stock issues weren't resolved until end of 2022 or early 2023, so technically the wording can still be considered correct.
Specifically mentioning battery life makes me think they're going to move to Lunar Lake. Intel drivers have dramatically improved and the AMD chips haven't been good on battery, sadly
The Steam Deck will turn two years old soon. While Valve hasn't detailed the second-gen gaming handheld yet, the company mentioned in an interview that it wants to wait for "a generational leap in compute" that won't force the device to sacrifice battery life.