AMD Ryzen APUs Propel Handhelds to Million-Unit Sales, While Steam Deck Remains the Leader

Over the past three years, reports indicate that most gaming handhelds sold have been powered by AMD Ryzen processors.

AMD Dominates Handheld Market, Projected 8 Million Units by 2025

While handheld gaming devices have existed for decades, the capability to run PC games truly took off when Steam launched its Deck in 2022. In just a few short years, we’re seeing a variety of handhelds from big names like ASUS, MSI, and ZOTAC flood the market.

The common thread among many of these devices is their reliance on AMD CPUs, with few exceptions like the MSI Claw 7/8 AI+. From the get-go, AMD’s custom Zen 2 CPU, embraced by Valve for its Steam Deck, became the choice for most handheld manufacturers looking for quicker solutions. Intel’s Meteor Lake chips only became available in late 2023, by which time frameworks like Lenovo’s Legion GO and ASUS’s ROG Ally had already set the stage.

Even with Intel’s Meteor Lake out there, manufacturers have largely opted for AMD’s Zen 4 chips, and now we see a transition towards Zen 5 processors among several vendors. Recent IDC data underscores this trend: a substantial chunk of handheld units shipped from 2022 to early 2025 runs on AMD technology, a triumph celebrated by AMD’s Senior Director of Consumer Marketing, Saša Marinković, with a proud statement on X.

From Zero to Hero, in just four years. Vast majority of these handhelds are powered by @AMD pic.twitter.com/0Cjg90pdlN — Saša Marinković (@SasaMarinkovic) February 25, 2025

Frank Azor from AMD’s Consumer and Gaming Marketing chimed in, expressing his amazement at the rapid growth from “nothing” to a thriving category worth millions of units.

IDC’s market research paints a picture of nearly six million handheld shipments running on Windows and SteamOS from 2023 to 2024. By 2025, projections suggest another two million, heavily dominated by AMD’s processors. This covers the most prominent models on the market like the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and MSI Claw 7.

It appears over half of the six million were Steam Deck sales, likely surpassing four million by now. Though it’s the least powerful in its group, Steam Deck’s user-friendly SteamOS interface has been pivotal in its success compared to its Windows-based competitors.

Intel has made headway with its Lunar Lake chips, but AMD’s upcoming Strix Halo might shift the landscape further. Unless Intel’s forthcoming Panther Lake can rise to the challenge in integrated GPU performance, AMD could maintain its lead, particularly as it introduces the Ryzen Z2 series. The competition in the gaming handheld sector is fiercer than ever.

Sources: The Verge, @SasaMarinkovic