Thread 712855135

Why have sales of handheld PCs been so poor despite their numerous advantages over the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2?

>>712855135 (OP)
Because handheld PCs are an emerging market while game consoles are more established.
Also that graph seems to only include the Deck LCD and not the OLED model. Deck is closing in on 10 million lifetime sales.

>>712855135 (OP)
the vast majority of PC games require long periods of time investment in one sitting.
not good when you're out in public and can only dedicate five minutes at a time (unlike bing bing wahoo games, which are designed for shortform content consumption)

>>712855135 (OP)
Games

>>712855135 (OP)
>Handheld PCs already outselling Switch 2 in its release year
Grim outlook for Nintendo...

>>712856290
you cant post this anymore because the switch 2 released with only one nintendo game.

>>712856193
>Deck is closing in on 10 million lifetime sales.
5 million

>>712855135 (OP)
Switch 1 was a fraction of the cost.
> outsells the emerging market

Switch 2 is the same cost as the rapidly maturing competition
> surely it will sell twice as much as Switch 1

>>712856193
>>712856390
I don't know where you are getting your numbers from, but it''s 3.7 million units of all Steam Deck models which is more than all other handheld PCs combined. Source: https://www.theverge.com/pc-gaming/618709/steam-deck-3-year-anniversary-handheld-gaming-shipments-idc

>>712856557
This "emerging market" already has shrinking demand despite new offerings like the ROG Ally. You can see a decline in sales in 2024-25.

>>712856390
LCD by itself is over 4 million. 3 million units of the LCD model were sold before the OLED launched in 2023.
5 million units would imply the OLED model sold almost zero units. Every indication has been that OLED sold more rapidly than the LCD.

>>712856380
One more game than what Series X and PS5 launched with.

>>712856997
Every indications has been that Steam Deck has sold around 5 or 6 million units.

>>712857165
You're wrong. It's 6 million for all handheld PCs. Read: >>712856585

>>712857496
So where are the deck shills pulling the 10 million figure from?

>>712855135 (OP)
The same reason why people will buy a console instead of playing on PC. It's easier than just messing with settings and installing drivers.

>>712855135 (OP)
Main demographic for handhelds is kids and steamdeck isn't designed as a kid friendly product.

>>712857165
Valve announced 3 million units at the end of 2023 when they launched the OLED, and the timing of the 2 million and 1 million leaks are consistent with the LCD hitting that point by that time. If that trend had continued then maybe 5-6 million by the end of 2024 is likely.
Except that there is a distinct uptick in the trend line of Linux use in the Steam survey data after the launch of the OLED model.

>>712858476
Sales of the OLED must have been very poor then since by 2025 they had only sold 3.7 units of all versions meaning only 700k OLEDs were sold assuming no more LCDs were sold. That's pretty grim.

>>712857750
It is approaching 10 million, but not there yet. Before the disruption in sales of the OLED caused by the Trump tariffs Deck was possibly on pace to pass 10 million by the end of 2025.

Another thing to consider, the 6-8 million Deck LCD+OLED units out there are only around 30% of PC Gamers who are exclusively using Steam for Linux and not using Steam on other platforms.

>>712858770
You're delusional.

>>712858770
>It is approaching 10 million
>6-8 million Deck LCD+OLED units out there
Source?

Consider for a moment what 1% represents in the Steam stats.
The percentage of users exclusively using Steam for Linux in markets where Deck was available was consistently above 4% prior to the introduction of the OLED.
After the introduction of the OLED model that same group of users rapidly rose to be consistently over 5%.
With Deck representing not quite 2% of Steam in those markets.

>>712860228
Linux users are either deck owners or trannies and there are a lot of trannies in first world countries where the deck is being sold.

>>712855135 (OP)
Why is mobile not included? It's handheld and it plays games like Fortnite.

>>712855135 (OP)
>handhelds are for manbabbies and actual children
>nintendo caters to manbabbies and actual children

>>712860614
Who cares?

>>712860614
Mobiles are actually handhelds, like PSP and DS were, and unlike the shit we get nowadays, which is just "portable".

These only sell to PC gaming enthusiasts. A granny is not going to buy this shit for their grandkid or themselves. Advantages don't matter to grannies.

>>712856585
why is everyone racing to get into this market?

>>712860614
Special pleading from Microsoft resulted in ARM UNIX platforms getting shifted off into their own category except for the ones already classified as 'consoles'.