On June 10th, the German container ship Posen pulled into Los Angeles after a two-week voyage from Shanghai, carrying what Valve watcher Brad Lynch believes to be the first mass production shipments of the Steam Frame - Valve’s new gaming headset. Because nothing says "summer fun" like strapping a screen to your face.
Import records show that Valve’s distribution partner Ceva offloaded nearly 32 metric tons of “Virtual Reality Devices” on Valve’s behalf. That’s roughly 13 tons of actual product, after you subtract the roughly 3,700-kilogram weight of five 40-foot shipping containers. Yes, that’s the same math used to estimate Valve imported 50 tons of game consoles in two days last month - and since Valve is differentiating between “Game Consoles” and “Virtual Reality Devices” in its import records, we can be fairly certain the Steam Machine console is the device it was stockpiling before.
Speaking of the Steam Machine, Valve’s stockpile may now have grown to 141 metric tons, as that’s roughly how much “Game Consoles” product has arrived in 12,600kg containers since April 23rd. And it looks like Valve probably received three shipments of Steam Deck handhelds in May - two on May 18th and one on May 30th - judging by how those containers had the higher gross weight of 14,500kg. That’s generally how heavy Valve’s “Game Console” containers were before the Steam Machine was announced.
13 tons isn’t actually a lot of VR headsets, of course, but perhaps more of them fit into a container than the Steam Machine console. Each Steam Frame weighs 654g (roughly 1.44lb) with a pair of wand controllers; back-of-the-napkin math suggests we’re probably talking about fewer than 20,000 units right now. There might not be that many Steam Machines in the US yet, either: 141 metric tons could easily be fewer than 50,000 units at their higher 2.6kg weight per console, not counting any controllers or cables.
Valve confirmed days ago that both the Steam Machine and Steam Frame will launch this summer, and has signaled that it had to rethink prices because of RAMageddon. Even if they’re pricey, though, they may sell out quickly. Because scarcity is just another feature, right?