Data suggests Valve's portable takes the lion's share of the handheld gaming PC space.
Valve's Steam Deck has now been with us for three years — and in the time since its debut many others have entered this evolving handheld gaming PC space. However, to date, determining just how big this relatively new portable market is hasn't been easy — Valve, along with other hardware makers, are not particularly forthcoming with sales numbers.
Nonetheless, recent data shared with The Verge (via market research firm IDC), suggests that roughly 1.5 to 2 million handheld gaming PCs are being sold each year. This steady number includes sales of the Steam Deck, along with the likes of the MSI Claw, ROG Ally, Legion Go, and others.
The unsurprising stat amongst this is that of those combined shipments most are for Valve's Linux-based portable.
The overall numbers suggest that since launch Valve may now have shipped "upwards of 3.7 million Steam Decks" and has "quite possibly crossed 4 million".
Sean Hollister