Valve's hardware portfolio has experienced significant pricing fluctuations due to various supply chain changes related to memory, storage, and now processor price hikes. According to Bloomberg, Qualcomm, the main chip supplier for the upcoming Steam Frame VR headset, is increasing its prices by double-digit percentages. This means that Valve's upcoming Steam Frame headset will face an unexpected price increase. Initially, Valve planned to use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor with 16 GB of unified LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1 TB of storage capacity. However, Bloomberg now confirms that Qualcomm is raising its processor costs for all customers, which is driving up expenses.

For Qualcomm, declining smartphone sales, due to the higher cost of DRAM and NAND Flash, have led to reduced sales of the smartphone SoCs that power these devices. As a result, the company has felt supply chain pressures across multiple sectors and is now attempting to recover by increasing chip prices across the board. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will see a double-digit percentage price increase, meaning anything from 10% and upwards is possible. If the price increase is substantial, combined with limited availability of LPDDR5X memory and SSD storage, the Steam Frame VR headset launch might not align with Valve's original plans.