Handhelds Powered by AMD Ryzen APUs See Millions in Sales; Steam Deck Remains the Favorite

Over the past three years, it’s been estimated that AMD’s Ryzen chips dominate the gaming handheld market.

AMD is Set to Ship an Estimated 8 Million Handheld Units by 2025, Cementing Its Victory

Handheld gaming consoles have been around for quite a while, but the ability to play PC games on them only gained traction following the launch of Steam’s Deck in 2022. Fast forward just a few years, and we’re witnessing an array of new handheld devices from leading brands like ASUS, MSI, and ZOTAC flood the market.

A common thread among most of these handhelds is their reliance on AMD CPUs, with some exceptions like the MSI Claw 7/8 AI+. From the outset, Valve set the trend by choosing AMD’s custom Zen 2 CPU, prompting many other manufacturers to opt for AMD’s more powerful chips. This was somewhat inevitable since Intel delayed its Meteor Lake release until late 2023, by which time companies like Lenovo and ASUS had already introduced their Legion GO and ROG Ally.

Even now, as Meteor Lake enters the scene, most of the industry sticks with AMD’s Zen 4 chips, and we’re even seeing a shift toward Zen 5 processors. This dominance is highlighted by IDC’s recent data showing the bulk of handheld units shipped from 2022 through early 2025 were AMD-powered. AMD has every reason to be proud, and their Senior Director of Consumer Marketing, Saša Marinković, expressed this sentiment enthusiastically on social media.

“From Zero to Hero in just four years. The vast majority of these handhelds are powered by @AMD,” Marinković tweeted, underscoring the rapid rise of AMD-powered devices in the market.

Echoing this sentiment, Frank Azor, part of AMD’s Consumer and Gaming Marketing team, remarked, "It’s amazing. Three years ago, this market was nonexistent. We’ve transformed from nothing into a category that ships millions."

IDC’s research further reveals that over the past three years, nearly 6 million handhelds, operating on Windows and SteamOS, were shipped, with projections of about two million more by the end of 2025. AMD’s processors are at the heart of most of these devices, including big names like Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and the MSI Claw 7.

The report also indicates that Steam Deck, despite being the slowest among its peers, might account for more than half of the six million units sold, possibly surpassing 4 million units by now. Its success is largely attributed to its user-friendly SteamOS, making it more appealing compared to its Windows-based rivals.

Though Intel has made decent strides with its Lunar Lake chips, the anticipated arrival of AMD’s Strix Halo in gaming handhelds could pose a significant challenge. It might become tough for Intel to keep pace unless their forthcoming Panther Lake series delivers substantial competition in terms of iGPU performance. Also, with AMD rolling out its new Ryzen Z2 series, the landscape of the gaming handheld market promises stiff competition ahead.

With sources like The Verge and insights from @SasaMarinkovic adding depth to these developments, it’s clear that the gaming handheld industry is gearing up for intense competition.