Valve says that the Steam Machine's price will be more 'in line with current PC market'

"I think that if you build a PC from parts and get to basically the same level of performance, that's the general price window that we aim to be at,"

"Obviously, our goal is for it to be a good deal at that level of performance, and then you have features that are actually really hard to build if you're making your own gaming PC from parts."

"right now is just a hard time to have a really good idea of what the price is going to be because there's a lot of different things that are fluctuating."

"more in line with what you might expect from the current PC market."

Valve plans a non-subsidized Steam Machine priced roughly in the same window as a comparable PC built from parts. The target is a good value at that performance level while providing integrated features that are difficult to reproduce in custom PC builds. Exact pricing is uncertain due to fluctuating market conditions and many variable factors. Pricing will align more closely with the current PC market rather than subsidized console models. Valve is considering a higher-end Steam Machine Pro but is focusing initially on a mid-range model that balances affordability and power.

Read at Engadget