With Valve’s latest announcement of their three products — Steam Machine, Controller and Steam Frame (VR headset). It is evident it is going for a full ecosystem, which is appreciated. But the price of the product will be a breakthrough or breakdown moment. It is no surprise that by 2026, when it will be launched — let us say second quarter, by that moment we already have a scenario of joblessness and people cutting on their discretionary spending. Consequently, the product’s price takes precedence over its actual performance. Good product, bad timing is always a disaster. The Steam Machine will compete in the crowded mini PC market, where many vendors are already present, but its unique feature is the Steam OS, which gives it an advantage. If the component costs are estimated for a custom build of equivalent processing power and hardware capabilities, it comes at 470USD. The Steam controller has two potentially useful extra features; grip sense and touch pads. But, there is another vendor such as 8BitDo (even I personally use these), which are about 50-70USD, it works with Nintendo Switch, Linux, Mac, Windows — almost all systems, and the keys are programmable as well. The Steam Controller loses appeal if it costs more than 50-70 USD. Now, at last but not least; the Steam Frame, which is promising from what I have seen so far, but again that also cost around 150-200USD. So the total package sums up to around 699USD. But this price is made as per the current valuations, which is incorrect. It is because whenever a company/innovator/creator puts a product in the public domain, there is at least a cycle of 2-3 years of testing. During that time, they have already stocked the components/SKU or raw materials for the product. So the bill of materials will be priced at 3-year-old pricing, which makes it year 2023. The fair pricing of the complete package stands at 599USD, it does include the margin for the company. The old generation APUs are being used to make it affordable, plus it will be like a stock clearance for the GPU supplier. Since many of the latest generation APUs are available, it doesn’t make sense to buy older hardware unless it adequately meets the use case Valve is targeting. AMD FSR4, when combined with lossless scaling it is already a second wind for the Steam Deck. And the big heat sink used in the Steam Machine is itself proof that it is going to perform like a beast. If the pricing is at 599USD it will convert existing customers. But if Valve is looking at new demographics and tough macroeconomic factors in 2026, even 599USD will be expensive. If I were in their shoes, I would have taken a hit on the profit margin and priced the entire package around 499USD (Chef’s kiss or Gabe’s kiss; whatever you call it), a customer acquisition cost for the long term. Don’t just earn money earn trust.