Over the last few years, there’s been a fascinating trend in the realm of gaming handhelds: the majority are being powered by AMD Ryzen chips.
It’s anticipated that by the close of 2025, around 8 million handheld gaming units will have shipped, with AMD taking a significant share of this market. Although handheld devices have been around for quite some time, it was in 2022, with the launch of Steam’s Deck, that handhelds capable of playing PC games truly took off. In just three years since then, we’ve seen a substantial lineup of handhelds from major brands such as ASUS, MSI, and ZOTAC.
A common thread among most of these devices is their reliance on AMD CPUs, except a few like MSI’s Claw 7/8 AI+ models. Valve’s choice to use a custom AMD Zen 2 CPU set the trend, and many handheld manufacturers opted for AMD’s faster chips. This preference was somewhat anticipated, as Intel’s Meteor Lake CPUs debuted only at the end of 2023. Meanwhile, Lenovo and ASUS had already introduced devices like the Legion GO and ROG Ally.
Even with Meteor Lake now available, AMD’s Zen 4 and the more recent Zen 5 remain the preferred choices for many handheld makers. Recent data from IDC reveals that most handhelds shipped from 2022 to early 2025 are indeed powered by AMD, which is a point of pride for the company. Saša Marinković, AMD’s Senior Director of Consumer Marketing, couldn’t contain his excitement and shared it on social media.
“From Zero to Hero, in just four years,” he tweeted, highlighting the dominance of AMD chips in this market.
Frank Azor from AMD’s Consumer and Gaming Marketing team reflected on this rapid growth: “It’s incredible how we’ve gone from nothing to creating a category boasting millions in unit sales in just three years.”
IDC’s market research indicates that nearly 6 million Windows and SteamOS-based handhelds were shipped over the past three years (2023-2024), with projections for 2025 suggesting another 2 million units, predominantly featuring AMD processors. This data focuses on the most popular and sold devices, such as 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 Decks, a testament to its popularity despite being one of the slower devices among its peers. Its user-friendly SteamOS interface has made it a fan favorite over its Windows-based counterparts.
Looking at Intel, they’ve made strides with their Lunar Lake chips; however, if AMD’s Strix Halo makes its way into gaming handhelds, it could present a formidable challenge to Intel. Unless Intel’s forthcoming Panther Lake series packs a serious punch in integrated graphics performance, AMD might continue its lead. With AMD’s new Ryzen Z2 series entering the fray, the competition in the gaming handheld market is heating up.
News Sources: The Verge, @SasaMarinikovic.
