The white model Z1 Extreme and none Extreme have been on life support since the MicroSD issues and then the issues with stick drift too that people always complain about and Asus digging their own graves with the RMA issues. Then the none extremes terrible performance and silly price from the start and then they had to slash the price on it when the general public realised they may look the same but don't perform the same and the Z1 was actually a very clever way to rip people off that are not very tech savvy or parents thinking grab that for the kids as it looked cheaper for the same thing ... but the kids know
and get the parents to return it.Agree if Asus, can't believe I'm saying this.. but if Asus had priced things right from the start they could have been market leaders in pc handhelds, just look at how much these companies discounted them since the release and they still make a decent profit don't be fooled, look at MSI with the Claw £800 it came out at and now £500 with $50 steam voucher and a $60 free game currently on offer, So really £400 for the device now with the extras.. and nobody wants them and I even returned one when it was on this same offer as it was so broken it was unreal.. Now waiting for the same mess with their new 8" version as the problem is not the hardware but the software that makes it work and it comes down to Intel and their GPU drivers.
Imagine an Ally X at £450-500 now ? they wouldn't be able to keep them in stock and take over the handheld market like Sony with PSP did back in the day, I feel like these handhelds are attracting more of the older generation that grew up on PSP,Vita, Game Gear and Game Boy etc and of course younger generation too that see how cool these devices are and the access to their pc games and all the games their parents played and talk about.. The retro gaming thing is what has also made these types of handhelds wanted in the market again.
Nostalgia sells ! and sells very well that's why Vinyl records are back.. who would believe that ? that grew up with them and the issues they had.. once CD came out I remember all us music lovers threw them out or took them to a charity shop and replaced all our favourite albums with CDs. Tape stayed longer because of Walkmans and people could record onto them, but they died off too and funny enough coming back too. Digital mp3 players and ipods killed the Tape Walkman off in the end and tape decks, then recordable CDs nailed the coffin shut on tape machines.
I hope you understand what I mean, I know I went off topic but to me these changes in peoples buying habits all come down to certain hobbies they grew up with that died off but come back later in life in a new more modern form just to be able to access the same stuff they used back in the day and it encourages the young generation around these adults to check what all the excitement is about and fall deep into the hobby too. Look at some of the younger generation with handhelds now they don't have one they have a collection of them now and even trying to collect all the retro ones that's why retro games and consoles shot up in price when they were worth nothing and even charity shops wouldn't take them
.. I know I tried ...Okay long wall of text again.. but in short yes if one of these companies gets the almost perfect device out at a sensible price they will make a killing right now in the handheld market and become a market leader, but some are just too greedy as we see and giving specs that are not worthy of 2024-2025 devices.
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