- The MSI Claw A8 has been spotted on Newegg in the US for $1,149
- No headline suggests the prize could have been a placeholder
- If legitimate, the MSI Claw A8 could join other mainstream handhelds costing more than $1,000.
Mainstream handheld manufacturers have recently been pricing new devices into unaffordable price zones, well above the model set by Valve with its Steam Deck – and unfortunately, it looks like this trend isn’t stopping any time soon.
As reported by VideoCardz, the MSI Claw A8 Ryzen Z2 Extreme handheld has been spotted on Newegg, listed for $1,149, with no sign of stock. The handheld has seen a staggered launch in other regions, including Asia, and is currently available in the UK for £849, but it hasn’t launched in the US for months.
It’s important to note that the $1,149 price may be a placeholder, but we’ve seen instances of early listings before, and that’s enough to suggest that this price could be legitimate once stock becomes available.
This could be the third mainstream portable gaming PC to cost over $1,000 in the US if this current price persists, which would allow the MSI Claw A8 to join the Lenovo Legion Go 2 and Asus ROG Xbox Ally X as arguably overpriced handhelds. The prices of these devices in particular are major points of contention, since the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor does not represent a big step forward from its Ryzen Z1 Extreme predecessor in terms of power and performance.
There is no doubt that RAM tariff and price increases have played their part if that is the true price. However, similar prices for portable hardware were still around before the current crisis and, frankly, consumers are unlikely to be happy, whatever the reasons.
The Steam Deck’s affordable pricing model appears to be becoming a thing of the past, and although Valve’s revenue from the Steam storefront has made loss-making Steam Deck sales possible, handheld manufacturers should look to stick with this model. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case even after this RAM pricing crisis ends.
Analysis: The only thing that will change high handheld prices is a drop in sales
Besides a drop in DRAM prices due to a possible collapse of the current AI boom, the only way to end ridiculous prices for handhelds is to see sales drop significantly, meaning consumers must stop paying unreasonable prices for handhelds.
I’ve argued that there are portable gaming PCs that justify prices at $1,000 or a little more, but they aren’t from mainstream manufacturers, and the devices feature processors that literally challenge laptop GPUs, including the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395.
The Ryzen Z2 Extreme that powers both the Legion Go 2 and the Asus ROG Xbox Ally doesn’t justify their high prices, and the same goes for the MSI Claw A8, if the Newegg price remains.
As long as sales remain in a decent range for brands like MSI, Asus, and Lenovo, we’ll continue to see cases of overpriced devices – and that’s unfortunate, because I don’t think consumers are strong enough to resist buying new devices.
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