On June 10, the German container ship Posen arrived in Los Angeles after a two-week voyage from Shanghai. As Valve watcher Brad Lynch says, it was almost certainly carrying the first mass production shipment of the Steam Frame, Valve’s new gaming headset.
Import records show that Valve’s delivery partner service unloaded approximately 32 metric tons of “virtual reality devices” on Valve’s behalf, or approximately 13 tons of actual product when you subtract the approximately 3,700 kg weight of five 40-foot shipping containers.
Speaking of Steam Machines, Valve’s stockpile has now increased to 141 metric tons, as nearly the same amount of “game console” product has arrived in 12,600 kg containers since April 23.
And it seems that Valve likely received three shipments of Steam Deck handhelds in May, two on May 18 and one on May 30, given that the total weight of those containers was 14,500 kg. Valve’s “game console” containers were generally this heavy before the Steam Machine was announced.
Of course, 13 tons isn’t exactly a lot of VR headsets, but probably more of them fit in a container than a Steam Machine console. With a pair of stick controllers they each weigh 654 grams (about 1.44 pounds); Back of the napkin math shows we’re probably talking about less than 20,000 units right now.
There may not be that many Steam Machines in the US yet: 141 metric tons could easily be less than 50,000 units, at a high weight of 2.6 kilograms per console, not counting any controllers or cables.
Valve confirmed a few days ago that both the Steam Machine and Steam Frame will launch this summer, and hinted that it had to reconsider pricing due to Ramageddon. However, even though they are expensive, they may sell out quickly.
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