Valve’s Steam Controller and Steam Machine are now available, both officially where applicable, and through the grey market where they aren’t (read: creative scalping). All that’s left is the Steam Frame, and if you thought that was going to be spared a price hike, that seems unlikely, and it’s all (possibly) thanks to Qualcomm.
Per a report by Bloomberg and Reuters, Qualcomm told its customers that it would be raising the prices of its Snapdragon chips by a double-digit percentage, due to rising costs of materials and components. This, of course, is reflective of the ongoing memory chips crisis, which has led to high demand, scarce supply, and skyrocketing demand. All fueled by the insatiable demand and explosive growth in the AI industry.
Qualcomm’s price hike is set to go into effect for all products using its chips from 1 September onwards, meaning that the Steam Frame will most certainly be affected: the wireless VR headset still doesn’t have a specific launch date, and considering Valve’s very John Carmack “it’s done when it is done” approach to product launch, it’s not a stretch to assume that Valve will also have to raise the price of its headset as a response.
Having said that, Qualcomm did not immediately confirm if Valve will change the retail price of the Steam Frame. But again, any product shipped powered by their chip after the 1 September deadline will be affected by the price hike, let alone the headset.
Things haven’t kicked off as smoothly as Valve hoped. The Steam Controller, one of its first products for the year, could not meet the overwhelming demand it garnered, and the digital game distributor has had no choice but to extend its preorder list well into 2027.
The Steam Machine officially went on sale back in June but again, Malaysia isn’t part of its official countries list in the region. Both consoles are still available for purchase in the country, albeit at what can only be described as scalper-level pricing.
(Source: Bloomberg via Reuters, Videocardz)
