Over the past three years, it’s become clear that AMD Ryzen chips are dominating the gaming handheld market. As we approach the end of 2025, it’s projected that nearly 8 million of these devices will have shipped, marking a significant win for AMD.
Although handheld gaming devices have been around for a long time, the ability to play PC games on them captured widespread attention only after Steam’s Deck hit the scene in 2022. Since then, and in just three years, the market has been flooded with handhelds from big names like ASUS, MSI, ZOTAC, and more.
There’s a common thread tying most of these devices: almost all of them feature AMD CPUs, with a few exceptions like MSI’s Claw 7/8 AI+. This trend began when Valve embraced AMD’s custom Zen 2 CPU, prompting other manufacturers to adopt AMD for their faster processors. At the time, Intel’s Meteor Lake was still on the horizon, only emerging in late 2023, which left companies like Lenovo and ASUS to release their Legion GO and ROG Ally with AMD chips beforehand.
Even after the introduction of Meteor Lake, most manufacturers preferred AMD’s Zen 4 chips. Moreover, some are now upgrading to the Zen 5 processors. According to a recent IDC report that examined handheld shipments from 2022 to the beginning of 2025, AMD’s dominance is prevalent, a point of pride for the company. Saša Marinković, AMD’s Senior Director of Consumer Marketing, highlighted this triumph on social media.
In a Twitter post, Marinković shared, “From Zero to Hero, in just four years. Vast majority of these handhelds are powered by @AMD.” This highlights the rapid ascent of AMD in this burgeoning market, a sentiment echoed by Frank Azor from AMD’s Consumer and Gaming Marketing, noting, “This didn’t exist three years ago; we went from nothing, zero, to incremental category creation in the millions of units.”
IDC’s research reveals that nearly 6 million Windows and SteamOS-based handhelds were shipped between 2023 and 2024. By the end of 2025, shipments are predicted to hit around two million, with AMD powering most of these units. While this data doesn’t cover every handheld device, it does focus on bestsellers like the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and MSI Claw 7.
Interestingly, the report indicates that Steam Deck sales make up over half of these 6 million units, potentially surpassing 4 million. Despite being the slowest performer among its peers, the Steam Deck’s intuitive SteamOS interface has given it an edge over its Windows-based counterparts.
Intel has made strides with its Lunar Lake chips, but the advent of AMD’s Strix Halo in gaming handhelds could widen the performance gap if Intel’s next series, Panther Lake, doesn’t match up in integrated GPU capabilities. Meanwhile, AMD’s impending Ryzen Z2 release sets the stage for an exciting and fiercely competitive landscape in the gaming handheld arena.
All in all, with several major players in the field, the competition remains fierce, and it’s anyone’s guess how this battle will unfold.
Sources: The Verge, Twitter (@SasaMarinkovic)
