AMD Dominates Gaming Handheld Market with Ryzen Chips, 8 Million Units Predicted by End of 2025

According to recent IDC market research, the majority of gaming handhelds sold over the past three years have been powered by AMD Ryzen chips, underscoring the company’s growing influence in this rapidly expanding segment. With the handheld gaming market only gaining widespread traction after the launch of Valve’s Steam Deck in 2022, popular vendors such as ASUS, MSI, and ZOTAC have since flooded the market with new devices, most of which are built around AMD’s custom and high-performance processors.

Data collected from 2023 to early 2025 indicates that nearly 6 million Windows and SteamOS-based handheld units have shipped, with more than half of these sales coming from the Steam Deck alone. The latest projections suggest that an additional 2 million units will be shipped in 2025, pushing the total to around 8 million handhelds by the end of the year. AMD’s presence is significant, as almost all handhelds in this space run on AMD Ryzen CPUs—ranging from Zen 4 to the newer Zen 5 processors—while few exceptions, such as certain MSI Claw models, opt for alternative solutions.

Senior Director of Consumer and Gaming Marketing at AMD, Frank Azor, took to X to share his enthusiasm about these developments:

"I think it’s amazing. This didn’t exist three years ago; we went from nothing, zero, to incremental category creation in the millions of units."

While Intel has made strides with its Lunar Lake chips, AMD appears to have solidified its lead in the handheld gaming arena. Should AMD’s upcoming Strix Halo technology make its way into future handheld devices, it could further widen the performance gap—unless Intel’s upcoming Panther Lake series can deliver the necessary iGPU performance to keep pace. Additionally, AMD’s new Ryzen Z2 series is poised to intensify competition in this space, promising even more power and efficiency.

This trend is particularly notable as most manufacturers have opted for AMD’s high-performance, power-efficient solutions. With the success of the Steam Deck—and its superior user interface via SteamOS—handheld gaming has evolved from a niche market to a major category. As the industry continues to grow, the reliance on AMD processors is expected to increase, reaffirming AMD’s dominant position in this competitive landscape.

What are your thoughts on AMD's rising influence in the gaming handheld market? Will Intel's upcoming technologies be able to challenge AMD's dominance, or will AMD continue to set the standard for handheld gaming performance? Share your thoughts in the comments below and join the discussion!