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IDC estimates show that six million handheld gaming PCs have been sold, with the Steam Deck dominating this new market.
Handheld PCs have become the dark horse for trending tech innovations in the gaming space, with Valve’s Steam Deck selling over 3.7 million units since its 2022 launch.
Valve releasing the Steam Deck came with unprecedented success despite its rough launch. Its introduction and popularity opened up new market opportunities for competing manufacturers such as GPD. Even with new faces entering faces, Steam Deck is more popular than it’s three top competitors combined.
The reasons behind the Steam Deck’s success vary. Its SteamOS systems allow for seamless play from the press of a button, have sleep functionality, and boast decent performance for both old and newer titles. It’s also sold at a price comparable to most consoles as opposed to the expensive PC market, costing $399 for a 64GB model.
Statistics show that the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion GO, and MSI Claw have seen steady demand over the past three years. In 2022 1.6 million units were sold, and raised to over 2.8 million in 2023; nearly 1.5 million were sold in 2024, and this year handheld PCs are estimated to reach nearly 2 million sales.
While the sales indicate steady demand, it also shows a lack of growth. Some industry experts see it differently, highlighting how the market is still in its early stages and has potential for further success.
Frank Azor, head of gaming marketing at AMD, said: “I think it’s amazing. This didn’t exist three years ago; we went from nothing, zero, to incremental category creation in the millions of units.”
The handheld gaming market is expected to grow as the Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to be released later this year. Whether it will reach the same level of success as its predecessor, selling over 150 million units, is yet to be seen. The Switch 2 is expected to see performance on par with the Xbox Series S.
Similar concerns have also been raised surrounding rumors of a Steam Deck 2 in the works, and whether it will see the same level of success as the original.
Featured image: Valve / Steam
