Since its launch back in 2022, the Steam Deck has led the way in the handheld market, leaving its rivals in the dust. However, it looks like those days could be over. Following the price hikes surrounding Valve's OLED handheld model and the discontinuation of the LCD version, sales appeared to have dropped off significantly.
Thanks to new research from Boiling Steam, we can track the Steam Deck's performance over recent months, and it might make for uncomfortable reading for those at Valve. Before the price hike, the Steam Deck had consistently sat in fourth or fifth spot in Valve's revenue charts since its release, with estimated weekly sales of around 11k to 18k units. Now, it's slipped to 14th, shifting something more like 1.4k to 3k units a week.
According to the report and the data estimates, this drop in sales could be costing Valve as much as six million dollars a week in terms of Steam Deck revenue. The most likely reason for the drop-off is the rise in price of the Steam Deck, as while we've seen other picks from our guide to the best handheld consoles go up in price due to the ongoing issues surrounding component costs, few increases have been as significant as that of Valve's handheld.
Either way, this dip in sales doesn't come as a surprise. One of the benefits of Valve's handheld was its affordability, but now that it's the same price as some of the more powerful Steam Deck alternatives, it's not quite as attractive a proposition. It's also starting to show its age, offering limited performance in some of the best Steam Deck games when compared to newer handhelds from the likes of Asus, Lenovo, and MSI.
There is a slight caveat here: given the recent launch of the Steam Machine, some users might be opting for the new console instead of the Deck, but that's purely speculation. However, the release hasn't been without its controversies: the Steam Machine is more expensive than many potential users anticipated, though that hasn't stopped it from selling out in some regions.