• Poe@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Seems like a lot of these handhelds are rushed and lacking R&D. Makes the steam deck seem like an even better option

    • chunkystyles@sopuli.xyz
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      7 months ago

      R&D is very expensive. I have no idea what the margins on these devices are, but I imagine it’s a tough market.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          7 months ago

          Yup. It was more expensive for Valve because they have a custom chip. These other devices are using off-the-shelf chips, so it’s a lot cheaper.

          Look at the minipc market (e.g. minisforum), and then add a screen, battery, and build in a controller. It’s really not a complicated product for a company that already makes similar devices, especially since they can probably reuse parts in other products.

      • vanderbilt@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Valve can go into the negative selling Decks, something that their competitors can’t reasonably do because they will get money from Steam store sales made on the Deck. I for one went from buying 3-4 games a year to like a dozen because it’s been so convenient.

  • Paranomaly@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    Seems a lot like competing launchers, a lot of companies want a slice of the pie that Valve discovered but aren’t willing to do the same amount of work. I’ve heard good things about the Ally, at least.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      7 months ago

      More like Valve created. There were PC handhelds before, but they were too expensive, had a crappy UX, and not high performance enough. Valve produced a device that addressed each of those and created a market for itself.

      If you make a compelling product at a good price, the demand will come.

      • jkrtn@lemmy.ml
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        7 months ago

        Oh but that requires money and effort, and creates a fair exchange for the purchaser, no can do. Hardware companies are more focused on how to force people to subscribe to their own devices.

  • edgemaster72@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Oh look, it’s exactly what everyone thought would happen. Well, good thing they’ve already said they’re making what, 3 or 4 iterations?