Re:Steam Machine: Between 12k and 15k Units Sold per week
by pweaver on Saturday July 18, 2026 @10:10AM
(#48958340)
Ya, the article doesn't specifically use the word demand but in the final section Is It Good? says "The estimated 12k to 15k weekly sales volume reflects the fact that this is not a mainstream home run." this implies that the 12k-15k is a demand number but we can't reach that conclusion with this data.
Re:Steam Machine: Between 12k and 15k Units Sold per week
by ekianjo on Saturday July 18, 2026 @10:40AM
(#48958569)
it also says:
> On top of that, Valve may be constrained in the number of units they can actually ship, so there may be downward pressure on a higher demand. We don’t know for sure.
Re:Steam Machine: Between 12k and 15k Units Sold per week
by layer8 on Saturday July 18, 2026 @11:11AM
(#48958835)
Given that the waitlist still exists, I think we can be pretty sure.
Re:Steam Machine: Between 12k and 15k Units Sold per week
by ekianjo on Saturday July 18, 2026 @11:20AM
(#48958932)
Yes, but it does not tell you if the demand is 3x what the supply is right now or simply slightly above supply.
Re:Steam Machine: Between 12k and 15k Units Sold per week
by layer8 on Saturday July 18, 2026 @12:10PM
(#48959379)
That's the point the root comment was making: The numbers only tell us how many units Valve is able to manufacture/ship, it doesn't tell us about the demand beyond that.
So it's not clear what point you were trying to make with your "it also says" comment.
It seems pretty clear it’s about how many units Valve is selling (charging for, shipping) and explicitly not about reservations or demand.
Valve is being smart here. It is far better to be supply constrained at launch than to have enough capacity to meet initial demand (and then far too much capacity when demand slows over time).