It’s silly to compare Switch 2 sales to Steam Deck sales.
The Switch 2 is a locked-down, vertically integrated platform. There are no ROG Switch 2s. No Lenovo Switch 2s. No Switch laptops or tower PCs with discrete GPUs. If you want to play Mario Kart World, your only option is to buy a Switch 2. Period.
Steam Deck, by contrast, isn’t a platform. It’s just one hardware option—one entry point into the sprawling, open ecosystem known as PC gaming.
Every year, around 245 million PCs are shipped globally. If even 20–25% of those are gaming-focused, that’s 49–61 million gaming PCs annually. Steam Deck is a sliver of that. So of course it won’t outsell a console that’s the only gateway to a major IP.
But that’s exactly the point.
PC gaming is too decentralized for any single device to dominate. The last “PC” that did was the Commodore 64, which sold 12.5–17 million units over 12 years because it was a self-contained platform, unlike modern Windows, Mac, or Linux machines.
That the Steam Deck has sold 4 million units despite competing with every other gaming PC in existence is remarkable. It didn’t just sell—it legitimized a category. Handheld PC gaming is now a thing. That’s why Lenovo, ASUS, and MSI have followed. Even Microsoft is getting in, optimizing Windows for handhelds—something they would never have done if the Steam Deck didn’t hold their feet to the fire.
So no, Steam Deck didn’t outsell the Switch 2. It didn’t need to.
It won by changing the landscape.
It’s funny you say this, because for 500 bucks I am actually debating between the two as my Christmas present to myself this year.
I think I’d prefer a Steam Deck for no particular reason. 🏴☠️
They are competitors on a personal level as many people only have the time or money to fit one of them into their lives. But by that definition cycling or golfing is also a competitor and nobody would write an article about how bikes outsold the Steam Deck.
If you’re comparing them, as in you don’t have a strong preference for one vs the other, the Steam Deck wins hands down. You get access to a much larger library of games, repairability is awesome, and you can use it like a PC, because it is one.
The only reasonable reasons to get a Switch 2 are:
But I don’t think most people will really be deciding between the two, they target very different markets.
I’ll probably end up getting the Switch 2, and I have a n OG Switch and a Steam Deck.
Do what I’m doing. Get the Steam deck and about when that time comes around that you want to buy a switch 2 it’ll have more games out and most likely different colors to pick from _
And your Steam Deck will likely be able to emulate it.