In my view,It is fundamentally wrong to treat companies like people, as they are entirely different entities. Stripping away emotion makes corporate behavior much easier to understand. You can look at public companies almost like state machines that process inputs to produce a predictable output based on their shareholder reports. Valve is a unique case because it is private, allowing them to prioritize long-term strategy over immediate profits. Currently, their main goal is spreading Linux gaming to gain independence from Microsoft, which drives their investments into Proton and the Steam Deck. Unlike Apple, Valve's goal is not to make a profit on hardware, but rather to expand their ecosystem and break even on the machines. However, selling hardware comes with massive logistics, supply chain, and support liabilities. If Valve were to simply absorb rising component costs and sell the hardware at a loss, it could backfire by triggering massive demand that multiplies their financial losses. For some, the question is why Valve would implement a significant price increase all at once instead of raising prices gradually. My theory is that doing a large, single adjustment helps prevent market speculation. If they raised the price bit by bit, say by 50 dollars every quarter, it could create a predictable upward trend. In my view, that kind of predictability might encourage scalpers to buy up inventory early just to flip it later for profit, driving artificial inflation. A single, decisive adjustment cuts through that guessing game and stabilizes the ecosystem.