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Valve says it has sold ‘multiple millions’ of Steam Decks

Draugoth

Gold Member
DSCF9169.jpg




Valve has sold “multiple millions” of its Steam Deck handheld gaming PCs, Valve designers Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais tell The Verge. Given that it just announced a new revision with an OLED screen, the company is probably set to sell a lot more.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
how about you tell us the actual numbers? multiple millions can mean 50 million but it can also mean 3 million, which is how much the deck is estimated to sell this year.

Just tell us how many units have been sold already. No one is going to blame a newcomer in the space for selling under 20m.
 
What an odd think to say for a company that isn't even publicly traded.

Basically, the Steam Deck hasn't sold well at all and because the games don't generate their own sales, they're not even really seeing an uptick in overall revenues.

They're selling the OLED model at a premium to try and raise their margins.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Yeah...... Massive doubt coming from the makers themselves.
What the hell does your statement even mean?

If you even follow Valve you'd know this almost was an experiment to see how the market would react. Like the Link, Index, controller, or other things, it's something they could burden themselves with and it seems to be doing good.

Are we entitled to know? Not really. But I read that as a good thing when they say they're selling multiple millions.

They aren't heholden to you to provide numbers on their new and niche device you can't even buy at most retailers.

For them to even say multiple millions should make you happy to see.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
The use case for this thing is weird to me. It’s way too big to be an actual carry around portable and way too weak to be a desktop replacement.

So what’s the actual draw?
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
I bought 2 deck at launch and bought the Ally.
Love the power upgrade of the Asus handheld but the user experience suck ass so I sold it. The OLED is just one off the reason why valve sway me back
Pictured: Me, trying my hardest not to say "I told you so!"
spongebob-challenge.gif


/s. just joking. hope you enjoy your new OLED when you get it
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
The use case for this thing is weird to me. It’s way too big to be an actual carry around portable and way too weak to be a desktop replacement.

So what’s the actual draw?
Laptops are way larger and people have 0 issue bringing them anywhere. even the Switch and Switch Lite are hardly pocketable. Large handhelds do still have a very good portable use case, especially when they come shipped with a convenient carrying case.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
Laptops are way larger and people have 0 issue bringing them anywhere. even the Switch and Switch Lite are hardly pocketable. Large handhelds do still have a very good portable use case, especially when they come shipped with a convenient carrying case.

Yup, peoples said the same thing for Switch in that infamous thread

Not saying deck will have that kind of success, but peoples don’t care about pocket factor like gameboy days
 
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Shifty1897

Member
The use case for this thing is weird to me. It’s way too big to be an actual carry around portable and way too weak to be a desktop replacement.

So what’s the actual draw?
  • You can also play this when you have to go visit your in laws. Are you playing games in the guest bedroom or are you sleeping because you don't feel well? They'll never know.
  • You can play PC games in bed instead of going downstairs to your cold office in the basement to play games.
  • You can play this in the living room while your kid watches some terrible kids show on the TV.
I've done all of these in the last week with my Switch, might buy a steam deck and do it with that too.
 

LordOfChaos

Member
What an odd think to say for a company that isn't even publicly traded.

Basically, the Steam Deck hasn't sold well at all and because the games don't generate their own sales, they're not even really seeing an uptick in overall revenues.

They're selling the OLED model at a premium to try and raise their margins.

Ehh it's kind of the opposite too isn't it

Being a non-publically traded company, they don't have to see two (or insert MILLIONS) million as an abject failure, if it's a hobby they break even on and like they can keep doing it, and vaguely told a reporter what they sold with zero precision

Valve not being public is responsible for it being so loved in many ways
 
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What an odd think to say for a company that isn't even publicly traded.

Basically, the Steam Deck hasn't sold well at all and because the games don't generate their own sales, they're not even really seeing an uptick in overall revenues.

They're selling the OLED model at a premium to try and raise their margins.
Couldn't disagree more with this take. PC handhelds don't sell in high volume and Valve didn't expect to sell the Steam Deck in the tens of millions like consoles usually do. Selling multiple millions (i.e. 2M+) is a good accomplisment for the Steam Deck and seems that Valve agrees hence why they've just launched a mid-gen refresh that's better than most mid-gen refresh HW I've seen in years in the gaming industry.

Furthermore the 512GB OLED model is just $20 more expensive than the original 256GB LCD deck which released back in 2022 and has more storage capacity, an oled screen, better battery, wifi 6e and more.

image.png
 
It's the same price as the original 500/600 dollar tiers. It's hardly much of a premium. Infact it's an amazing deal when you consider that the Switch OLED gave you less and charged 50 dollars more
Yeah, I bet that he doesn't really follow the handheld market all that much so why even post something that's wrong with such confidence?
 
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LordOfChaos

Member
Nintendo sold 'multiple millions' of its Wii U.

This is why I don't know about it chasing a console like target of fixed power for years, who is going to optimize for 2-3 million Steam Decks like it's a bespoke console. Just slapping on recommended settings on a game it could already run is different.

I just picked one up yesterday, I hope it has a bright future, but I'm not sure what they're expecting with that console model
 
The use case for this thing is weird to me. It’s way too big to be an actual carry around portable and way too weak to be a desktop replacement.

So what’s the actual draw?
I dont play vidya in public, but I take my steam deck outside and play it in my yard, I have taken it on trips (I beat DS3 while travelling) and I play it when the main computer is in use by my kids. There are a lot of use cases.

Its also comfier to just play on the couch than sitting at a laptop or desktop.

For not AAA stuff, I prefer it over my relatively capable gaming pc.

I reckon valve has probably sold 2-3 million steam decks, and I hope they sell a lot more.
 

Tams

Member
This is why I don't know about it chasing a console like target of fixed power for years, who is going to optimize for 2-3 million Steam Decks like it's a bespoke console. Just slapping on recommended settings on a game it could already run is different.

I just picked one up yesterday, I hope it has a bright future, but I'm not sure what they're expecting with that console model

Just Saying Bernie Sanders GIF by Saturday Night Live
 
It's the same price as the original 500/600 dollar tiers. It's hardly much of a premium. Infact it's an amazing deal when you consider that the Switch OLED gave you less and charged 50 dollars more

It launched more than 2 years ago. The parts inside it aren't worth nearly as much. Don't use Nintendo as the standard as they are all about margins. They've reduced the price of the LCD models but removed the entry-level model that had the worst margins but the cheapest price.

If it was a true success, it would have pushed Sony and Microsoft into the handheld market.

You'd be a fool to buy a Steam Deck OLED if you already have a Steam Deck, just to have them release a Steam Deck 2 next year or the year after.
 
Couldn't disagree more with this take. PC handhelds don't sell in high volume and Valve didn't expect to sell the Steam Deck in the tens of millions like consoles usually do. Selling multiple millions (i.e. 2M+) is a good accomplisment for the Steam Deck and seems that Valve agrees hence why they've just launched a mid-gen refresh that's better than most mid-gen refresh HW I've seen in years in the gaming industry.

Furthermore the 512GB OLED model is just $20 more expensive than the original 256GB LCD deck which released back in 2022 and has more storage capacity, an oled screen, better battery, wifi 6e and more.

image.png

None of that costs significantly more money. We see bigger improvements in Raspberry Pis.

There's a reason they didn't maintain the 64gb model and drop its price to say 300 or 350, because it's killing them on the margins.

The components in the Steam Deck have cratered in price especially now that the supply chain has improved.

You'd never see the same laptop or desktop maintain the same price after 1 year on the market let alone 2 years on the market.
 
None of that costs significantly more money. We see bigger improvements in Raspberry Pis.

There's a reason they didn't maintain the 64gb model and drop its price to say 300 or 350, because it's killing them on the margins.

The components in the Steam Deck have cratered in price especially now that the supply chain has improved.

You'd never see the same laptop or desktop maintain the same price after 1 year on the market let alone 2 years on the market.
Have to again disagree with your take here. The OG SD released 1.5 years ago and this mid-gen refresh is a much better improvement than any mid-gen refresh I've seen in recent time including the Switch OLED and basically maintains the same pricing (the 512GB oled model is actually cheaper than the OG 512GB LCD when it released in early 2022). Valve are pleased with the numbers they've gotten hence why they've released this new mid-gen refresh at a better price than any of their PC handheld competitors and are also quietly working on the Steam Deck 2.0. But sure do go on on how this is bad thing for Valve... 🙄
 
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SomeGit

Member
None of that costs significantly more money. We see bigger improvements in Raspberry Pis.

There's a reason they didn't maintain the 64gb model and drop its price to say 300 or 350, because it's killing them on the margins.

The components in the Steam Deck have cratered in price especially now that the supply chain has improved.

You'd never see the same laptop or desktop maintain the same price after 1 year on the market let alone 2 years on the market.

You have 0 sources on BOM, how can you say prices “cratered”? No other handheld get within the same price as the base Deck, he’ll even the OLED one is ahead. Raspberry pies are released 3/4 years apart and mostly SoC changes with the odd port change here and there, how can you say it’s a bigger change?

Man you need to apply more logic to your posts and less baseless speculation.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
It launched more than 2 years ago.
A year ago. It'll be hitting 2 years in 2024. Now it was originally meant to come out in dec 2021, but even then it would still be under 2 years.

There's a reason they didn't maintain the 64gb model and drop its price to say 300 or 350, because it's killing them on the margins.
Because they already have refurbished decks which sell at a heavy discount. You can still easily buy a discounted first gen deck.

If it was a true success, it would have pushed Sony and Microsoft into the handheld market.
"If the switch were a true success, it would have pushed Sony and Microsoft into the handheld market."

Competitor response is not a measure of success. This is such a stupid point
They've reduced the price of the LCD models but removed the entry-level model that had the worst margins but the cheapest price.
And replaced it with a model that also has quite bad margins.

I don't know what you want here. Do you expect the literal system upgrade to be cheaper than the original? Because that has never happened with any gaming console in the past.
 

GHG

Member
The use case for this thing is weird to me. It’s way too big to be an actual carry around portable and way too weak to be a desktop replacement.

So what’s the actual draw?

Travelled around during all of August with my deck and had no issues with the portability of the machine.

So I'm not sure what you mean by this. It's the perfect size for planes and long train/coach journeys.
 

OverHeat

« generous god »
None of that costs significantly more money. We see bigger improvements in Raspberry Pis.

There's a reason they didn't maintain the 64gb model and drop its price to say 300 or 350, because it's killing them on the margins.

The components in the Steam Deck have cratered in price especially now that the supply chain has improved.

You'd never see the same laptop or desktop maintain the same price after 1 year on the market let alone 2 years on the market.
HopS65u.gif
 

Dream-Knife

Banned
The use case for this thing is weird to me. It’s way too big to be an actual carry around portable and way too weak to be a desktop replacement.

So what’s the actual draw?
Play in bed or on the couch.

I don't take gaming devices in public.
 
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Have to again disagree with your take here. The OG SD released 1.5 years ago and this mid-gen refresh is a much better improvement than any mid-gen refresh I've seen in recent time including the Switch OLED and basically maintains the same pricing (the 512GB oled model is actually cheaper than the OG 512GB LCD when it released in early 2022). Valve are pleased with the numbers they've gotten hence why they've released this new mid-gen refresh at a better price than any of their PC handheld competitors and are also quietly working on the Steam Deck 2.0. But sure do go on on how this is bad thing for Valve... 🙄

They're pleased with the numbers that they refused to publicize? Yeah, sure...


You have 0 sources on BOM, how can you say prices “cratered”? No other handheld get within the same price as the base Deck, he’ll even the OLED one is ahead. Raspberry pies are released 3/4 years apart and mostly SoC changes with the odd port change here and there, how can you say it’s a bigger change?

Man you need to apply more logic to your posts and less baseless speculation.

As someone who does hardware purchasing, I can tell you that the components in the steam deck are significantly cheaper now than when the system launched in February of 2022. RPIs get significant processing and memory upgrades, while generally maintaining a similar price (until recently).

A year ago. It'll be hitting 2 years in 2024. Now it was originally meant to come out in dec 2021, but even then it would still be under 2 years.


Because they already have refurbished decks which sell at a heavy discount. You can still easily buy a discounted first gen deck.


"If the switch were a true success, it would have pushed Sony and Microsoft into the handheld market."

Competitor response is not a measure of success. This is such a stupid point

And replaced it with a model that also has quite bad margins.

I don't know what you want here. Do you expect the literal system upgrade to be cheaper than the original? Because that has never happened with any gaming console in the past.

It'll be hitting 2 years in February, we're in November...

The Switch isn't analogous to the Steam Deck. It would be much more difficult for Sony and Microsoft to create a hybrid system and replicate the Switch than it would be for them to create a side project that was a pure handheld.

This isn't a real upgrade. It's a cash grab, because the model isn't working and they're trying to get people to double dip with an OLED model.

Again... none of you have an argument, because you don't know how many units of this thing have sold, but what we do know is that they refuse to tell us.
 
The use case for this thing is weird to me. It’s way too big to be an actual carry around portable and way too weak to be a desktop replacement.

So what’s the actual draw?

This isn't the future state of things. They haven't had enough success with Steam Link either, but streaming and remote play will have far greater adoption than this thing.

You've got some ardent fanboys as you can see from some reactions here, but not much else.
 

Three

Member
Why does it matter?

a handheld running PC games is never going to be short on software to play.

Not like developers are going to abandon the platform.
It still matters for support. Despite for example MS fantards saying "MS now support the steamdeck" yet again their latest game FM was broken on it and had no official support. Steamdeck is a platform of its own and I hope it takes off much more because it promotes platform agnostic releases.
 
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They're pleased with the numbers that they refused to publicize? Yeah, sure...
They're a private company so they don't have any obligation to share those numbers with the public. And like the title of the article says the SD sold in the 'millions' and they seem to be more than okay with those sales figures, hence the mid-gen refresh that's launching as early as next week and also the SD 2.0 they're working on. Overall they seem very content with the steam deck business. And as an offtopic, I think we're beginning to talk in circles here lol.
 
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SomeGit

Member
As someone who does hardware purchasing, I can tell you that the components in the steam deck are significantly cheaper now than when the system launched in February of 2022. RPIs get significant processing and memory upgrades, while generally maintaining a similar price (until recently).

So as a consumer you are speculating BOM, sure I'm sure you recently bought LPDDR5 modules and display modules...
Significant? Lmao, the RPI 5 base unit is the first to get a bump in memory after 10 years, since the RPI 2 but okay dude, whatever you say.
 
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acm2000

Member
my dick is multiple inches long but that doesnt mean its an impressive number.

good result for a niche device tho and way better than that steam machine mess.
 
So as a consumer you are speculating BOM, sure I'm sure you recently bought LPDDR5 modules and display modules...
Significant? Lmao, the RPI 5 base unit is the first to get a bump in memory after 10 years, since the RPI 2 but okay dude, whatever you say.

Yeah, I meant as a consumer purchasing hardware, not as part of my job... that's it...
 

Interfectum

Member
How many millions? I'm not hurt at all.

This isn't good or bad news, it's not news at all.
You have posted more than anyone in this thread, clearly you think this is news worth talking about. And you are trying to speak from some sort of tech authority which you don't have. I don't even know what you are trying to accomplish here.
 
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