AMD Ryzen APU Handhelds Achieve Massive Sales; Steam Deck Remains the Top Choice

Over the past three years, we’ve witnessed a fascinating trend in the gaming handheld market: a surge in devices powered by AMD Ryzen chips.

In a landscape where around 8 million handheld units are anticipated to ship by the close of 2025, AMD appears to be coming out on top. Handheld gaming consoles have been around for what feels like forever, but it wasn’t until Valve’s Steam Deck hit the scene in 2022 that playing PC games on these devices really took off. Fast forward a few years, and a whole array of handhelds from big names like ASUS, MSI, and ZOTAC have entered the fray.

A common thread unites most of these new handhelds: AMD’s CPUs power them. While there are exceptions like MSI’s Claw 7/8 AI+, the majority have opted for AMD’s speedier chips since day one, notably after Valve integrated a custom Zen 2 CPU from AMD. This preference makes sense, given that Intel’s Meteor Lake only launched at the end of 2023. By that time, companies like Lenovo and ASUS had already carved out niches with their Legion GO and ROG Ally devices.

Even now, with Meteor Lake available, AMD’s Zen 4 chips remain the choice for most manufacturers. More recently, we’ve seen several vendors embracing the Zen 5 processors. That’s why, when IDC shared its research on handheld shipments from 2022 through early 2025, the numbers favored AMD-powered devices. Saša Marinković, AMD’s Senior Director of Consumer Marketing, didn’t miss the chance to express pride in this achievement on social media.

He shared, “From Zero to Hero, in just four years. Vast majority of these handhelds are powered by @AMD,” highlighting the impressive growth from nonexistence to market prominence.

Frank Azor from AMD’s Consumer and Gaming Marketing reflected on this rapid evolution by saying, “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 market research indicates that nearly 6 million Windows and SteamOS-based handhelds shipped from 2023 to 2024, with predictions for 2025 adding another 2 million units to the tally. Most of these devices will feature AMD processors, and while the report doesn’t account for every single handheld, it includes heavyweights like the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and MSI Claw 7.

Interestingly, more than half of those 6 million units are believed to be Steam Deck sales, which could have surpassed 4 million units by now. Despite being the slowest among its peers, the Steam Deck’s intuitive SteamOS interface has attracted more users compared to its Windows-based competitors.

Intel has made strides with its Lunar Lake chips, but AMD’s potential introduction of the Strix Halo in gaming handhelds could present a significant challenge. Intel will need its upcoming Panther Lake series to be exceptionally strong to rival the Strix Halo’s integrated GPU performance. With AMD’s new Ryzen Z2 series also making waves, the gaming handheld market is poised for some fierce competition.

News Sources: The Verge, @SasaMarinikovic