Steam Deck is more popular than all competitors combined – sales of portable PC gaming consoles exceed 6 million

Valve’s Steam Deck portable console, released three years ago, has become one of the most iconic products in the gaming market, effectively creating a new segment. And while companies like GPD began selling similar gadgets years before the Steam Deck, a recent report from IDC analysts suggests that Steam Deck dominates the portable gaming console market. However, the potential for further market growth is still unclear.

Image Source: TechSpot

According to IDC, approximately 6 million Steam Deck units have been sold since their release in 2022. Despite a small retail presence, Valve has managed to sell over 3.7 million of its consoles. Valve itself previously stated that it had sold “several million” Steam Deck units. IDC estimates that the company sold 1.62 million units in 2022. And over the entire life cycle of the gadget, it may have already surpassed the 4 million unit mark.

Estimated total sales of portable gaming devices. Image source: The Verge via IDC

In 2023, combined shipments of Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and MSI Claw consoles totaled about 2.87 million, falling to 1.49 million in 2024. Shipments are projected to reach just under two million by the end of 2025. Steam Deck accounted for about half of sales in 2023 and 2024. The report does not include companies like GPD and Ayaneo, as their market impact is difficult to assess due to their different business strategies.

While these numbers don’t necessarily indicate strong, consistent growth in the portable gaming market as a whole, Frank Azor, AMD’s head of gaming, calls the expansion from zero to six million units sold in just three years “amazing.” AMD has a strong position in the portable console market, and its upcoming Ryzen Z2 series chips will power a new generation of devices coming this year.

Traditional console companies like Nintendo don’t have to worry about competition from Valve and Windows console makers, as they have different business models and target different audiences. The Japanese manufacturer now faces a much more pressing challenge: convincing the 150 million original Switch owners to upgrade to the Switch 2, due out this year.

Image source: ASUS

Because Steam Deck and similar devices are more of an offshoot of the traditional gaming PC market than a home console, looking at their popularity relative to gaming laptops or pre-built PC sales can provide more meaningful insight. Previous reports from IDC and other analysts have shown that while the overall PC market saw modest growth last year, the PC gaming segment continues to expand strongly.

It remains unclear, however, whether Steam Deck itself or Valve’s recent decision to support the SteamOS operating system on third-party gaming devices will be able to further stimulate this growth. Steam Deck is only available in a limited number of countries and is hardly advertised outside of the Steam online platform. One thing is clear: there is no Steam Deck 2 to be expected anytime soon. While other manufacturers of portable gaming gadgets are trying to introduce more powerful and modern processors as quickly as possible, Valve is taking its time and waiting for a real technological leap that will make such devices more energy efficient.