Gamers may have begun to shy away from the now more expensive PS5. U.S. April data highlights a 30% decline in PlayStation console sales compared to the previous year. Before the impending Switch 2 price increase, Nintendo’s handheld extended its lead over the competition.
I assumed it was because they saw handheld computers and the Steam Machine as serious competition to Sony’s own hardware.
Handheld computers are competition to the PlayStation in the sense that Sony would want everyone who owns one to buy a PS5 instead but not in the sense that those consumers having an option is hurting sales significantly. I could not find actual numbers, but analysts seem to be estimating that Valve has sold about 6 million Steam Decks in total. For comparison, Sony sold 1.5 million PS5s last quarter, which is devastating since they sold 2.8 million the year before.
Also, that sales gap is going to get worse in the short term. Instead of raising Steam Deck prices or reducing profit margins, Valve has decided to stop selling systems until RAM prices come back down.
That was my initial thought, but they don’t even have a current gen handheld do they?
(And if they do, frankly the marketing team should be fired)
Perhaps the steam machine is a legit concern for them though
They do, but its bad.
Its just a handled device that stores from only your ps5. Can nor play anything itself.
No, they don’t have a handheld, and that’s kinda the problem. The ecosystem is growing without them. Steamdeck, Xbox ROG Ally, Nintendo Switch. That’s 100% of their competitors, each with handhelds that nearly came out of nowhere in the last few years. Sony is SUPER behind the curve on this, and no amount of “New PSVita5” is gonna save them. They biffed it with the mobile market, and instead of buying in and playing second fiddle, they want to take their ball and go home.
PlayStation Portal enters the chat /s