A new survey shows Nintendo and Valve leading the pack in the gaming handheld sector, but Windows-based devices are closing the gap. As the gaming handheld sector continues to become congested with more offerings in various shapes, sizes, and configurations, trends are beginning to emerge. While industry-specific sales numbers are not readily available for this particular market segment as a whole, it’s evident that electronics hardware manufacturers are all in when it comes to taking cash from the hands of gamers on the go looking for a portable system.
At this point, the now-aged 3-year-old Steam Deck would normally be thought of as obsolete given the various new technologies that have arrived since its release, but Valve has done such a solid job of support and quality control that it still ranks as number one among gamers in a new survey done by TechPowerUp. However, depending on the question, Nintendo does take a significant lead, while the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Go, with AMD’s Ryzen Z1 processors, and then the Intel-based MSI Claw, all using Windows, have a consistent 3rd place ranking in both charts. However, the ASUS ROG Ally is clearly the preferred choice of Windows-based devices. Be aware that, for whatever reason, TPU swapped the color coding for the manufacturers in its slides, which does make it a bit trickier to identify each.
Summary:
- Steam Deck: 36% distribution of usage, 12% among ownership
- Nintendo Switch: 35% distribution of usage, 13% among ownership
- Windows-based combined: 19% distribution of usage, 6% among ownership
- ASUS ROG Ally: 12% distribution of usage, 4% ownership
The Nintendo Switch stands out as a beast of a different color in that among the above-listed systems, it is the only one that can be categorized as a console due to its included dock and hybrid performance modes. However, these types of options are often available for various gaming handhelds as well. It is also currently unique with its custom NVIDIA processor, while competitors are either using AMD or Intel mobile processors. Meanwhile, ASUS and Microsoft recently announced their partnership for the Xbox ROG Ally X (1, 2) that will be shipping in the fall and could easily increase sales in the Windows segment of gaming handhelds. Sony is also expected to rejoin the fray with another mobile offering being in the works, which is rumored to offer some level of PS5/PS4 performance.