As the Steam Machine was officially released for sale, many players gasped when they saw the starting price of US$1,049 (approximately NT$30,600, HK$8,240, and RM4,450). However, according to IGN reports, Valve originally hoped to control the price of this mainframe PC at around US$750 (approximately NT$21,900, HK$5,890, and RM3,180). However, later, the price of global memory and components skyrocketed, and the final plan was completely disrupted.
Is the AI boom an accidental driving force behind the scenes?
Valve stated that the AI industry’s demand for high-bandwidth memory and storage components has increased significantly in recent years, resulting in rising costs throughout the supply chain. For Valve, which does not subsidize hardware costs like Sony and Microsoft, this price increase is almost directly reflected in the final selling price. To put it simply, the original plan for the Steam Machine was to be a little more expensive than a high-end console, but not as exaggerated as an e-sports PC. As a result, the reality was cruel. By the time the product was actually launched, the price had jumped directly into the four-digit dollar range.
US$750 is still considered, but US$1,000 is really too hard!
After the news was exposed, Reddit players also quickly started discussions. Many people believe that if the price falls around US$750, Steam Machine may still attract many living room PC players. But now that it has exceeded the US$1,000 threshold, its competitors are no longer just PlayStation and Xbox, but the entire DIY computer market. Some players even joked that Valve originally wanted to sell it for US$750, but ended up selling it for US$1,049. This is no longer inflation, but has directly evolved into a RAM disaster. For a product that focuses on the gaming experience in the living room, whether the market is willing to pay for it will probably have to wait until it is officially launched for sale.