Times are tough for system integrators around the world. Despite its influence in the PC gaming industry, Valve is no exception to the rule.
Designed to promote the PC in the living room, the Steam Machine was seen as a breath of fresh air when it was announced last November. Even then, however, some voices were raised to point out the potential difficulties Valve would face in maintaining attractive prices as DRAM prices began to rise sharply. Since then, unfortunately, the situation has only worsened: we’re now seeing DRAM (for RAM) prices at least triple, and NAND (for SSDs) has followed suit a few weeks later. Unsurprisingly, when it went on sale in late June, the Steam Machine was anything but a budget PC, with prices starting at 1,039 euros!
Between 1,039 and 1,428 euros: Steam Machine prices are staggering © Valve
Alas, a thousand times alas, things don’t seem likely to turn in gamers’ favor anytime soon. A few days ago, the CEO of SK Hynix, one of the world’s leading DRAM manufacturers, expressed deep pessimism. He explained that the RAM sector, far from heading in the right direction, “is heading toward the most severe crisis in its history starting in 2027 , ” before adding that “demand from our customers continues to rise, while our [production] capacity is limited.” Given this context, it’s hard to imagine Valve being able to offer more competitive prices for its Steam Machine.
When interviewed by Bloomberg, Yazan Aldehayyat and Pierre-Loup Griffais, engineers at Valve, explained that “what consumers currently see on store shelves lags by at least three to six months behind what we’re seeing in terms of wholesale supply.” In other words, the current price of the Steam Machine is unlikely to hold steady in the coming months, even though Valve has so far ruled out any price increase. No, the main problem for Valve is maintaining Steam Machine production, since the “not-too-expensive” memory it uses is in limited supply: “We’re producing as much as we can,” explains Pierre-Loup Griffais.
