Over the past three years, the landscape of gaming handhelds has been largely dominated by devices powered by AMD Ryzen chips.
With a Forecast of 8 Million Handheld Units Expected to Ship by the Close of 2025, AMD Claims Victory
Handheld gaming consoles have been around for quite some time, but it wasn’t until Steam launched its Deck in 2022 that devices capable of running PC games truly began to take off. Fast forward three years, and the market is flooded with products from well-known brands like ASUS, MSI, ZOTAC, and others.
A common thread among these devices is their reliance on AMD CPUs, with exceptions like the MSI Claw 7/8 AI+. Ever since Valve embraced AMD’s custom Zen 2 CPU, most handheld manufacturers have followed suit, opting for these speedy AMD chips. This trend became more pronounced as Intel’s Meteor Lake chips didn’t hit the market until late 2023, by which time companies like Lenovo and ASUS had already launched their Legion GO and ROG Ally.
Even with Meteor Lake available, many manufacturers stuck with AMD’s Zen 4 chips, and since then, a growing number of companies have started integrating the newer Zen 5 processors. According to IDC’s recent data on handheld shipments from 2022 through early 2025, a clear majority are AMD-driven. AMD’s satisfaction with their market position is palpable, with Saša Marinković, their Senior Director of Consumer Marketing, taking to social media platform X to express his delight.
Marinković shared enthusiastically: "From Zero to Hero, in just four years. Vast majority of these handhelds are powered by @AMD."
Reflecting on this rapid growth, Frank Azor, from AMD’s Consumer and Gaming Marketing, remarked, "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."
IDC’s research indicates that approximately 6 million handhelds, based on Windows and SteamOS, were shipped over the past three years (2023-2024). By the end of 2025, another two million are anticipated, with most featuring AMD processors. This data highlights the top-selling models, including popular names like the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and MSI Claw 7.
Interestingly, more than half of these 6 million units are speculated to be Steam Deck sales, potentially surpassing 4 million units already. Although the Steam Deck might not be as fast as other gaming handhelds, its seamless interface via SteamOS has made it more appealing than its Windows-based counterparts.
While Intel’s Lunar Lake chips have made strides, the potential introduction of AMD’s Strix Halo into gaming handhelds might make it incredibly challenging for Intel to compete in performance, unless their upcoming series, Panther Lake, delivers significant advancements in iGPU capabilities. And with AMD’s new Ryzen Z2 series entering the fray, the gaming handheld market is witnessing fierce competition.
Source: News from The Verge, @SasaMarinkovic
