š The Steam Frameās final price could be set to increase due to chipmaker Qualcomm announcing its own price hike
š¬ The chipmaker has said a ādouble digitā price rise will be implemented on products shipped after September 1, 2026
š¤¦āāļø This could affect later Steam Frame shipments, depending on the release date, and could mean its price rises soon after the headset releases
š¤·āāļø Qualcomm cited the usual memory crisis reasons weāve seen before, and that it could no longer absorb higher costs from its own suppliers
We could be set for a nasty shock when the Steam Frameās price is announced, as it could be higher than initially expected, owing to an increase in chip prices.
As reported by Bloomberg, Qualcomm has told its customers that it is putting chip prices up by ādouble digitsā for products shipped after September 1, 2026.
Qualcomm justified these price rises by saying it had exhausted its ability to absorb higher costs from its suppliers and said it had made attempts to secure alternative components from new sources.
The interesting thing relative to the Steam Frame is that Qualcommās price rises are for products it ships beginning in September.
It may be the case Valve already has stock of the Qualcomm chips itās putting inside the Steam Frame, so it can sell the headset at an MSRP thatās less gouging than we may expect.
However, with future units produced once the Qualcomm price rise comes in, consumers could be in for a nasty shock.
We already thought the Steam Machineās price was too high for the specs on offer, but its reflective of the current market conditions for RAM, storage, and how difficult it is to get those components at a more affordable rate.
Valve said at the time that it may see further price rises for the Steam Machine in the future when it explained the price and pre-order system for the device, given the volatility of the price for memory components, and it looks like that could be the case again.
Weāve been anticipating a Steam Frame pre-order announcement for some time now, especially with Valveās vast array of backend updates for the headset and the huge quantity of devices it has received into its US warehouse.
Valve recently received one of its biggest Steam Frame shipments yet, with nearly two tonnes of headsets and controllers coming into Valveās US warehouse, as the Steam Hardware Updates account on X had noted.
Weāre also now up to 25 verified games for the new āGreat on Frameā category Valve recently launched on Steam, plus the headset has now received Steamworks support, which all points to a release potentially coming very soon.
Up next: Best Steam Machine settings for Resident Evil Village
Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.