- The MSI Claw A8 has been spotted on Newegg in the US for $1,149
- No shares suggest the price may have been a placeholder
- If legit, the MSI Claw A8 could join other mainstream handhelds costing over $1,000
Mainstream handheld manufacturers have recently been pricing new devices in prohibitive price regions, well above the template Valve kit with its Steam Deck – and unfortunately, the trend doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime 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 had a staggered launch in other regions, notably Asia, and is currently available in the UK for £849, but it hasn’t seen a US launch for months.
It’s important to note that $1,149 may be a placeholder, but we’ve seen instances of early listings before, and that’s enough to suggest that this price tag could be legitimate once stock is available.
This could be the third mainstream gaming handheld to cost over $1,000 in the US if this current price tag holds, making the MSI Claw A8 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, as the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor is not a huge leap from its Ryzen Z1 Extreme predecessor in power and performance.
There’s no doubt that both tariffs and RAM price hikes have played their part if this is the right price tag. However, similar prices for handheld hardware were still around before the current crisis, and frankly, consumers probably won’t be happy regardless of the reasons.
Steam Deck’s affordable pricing template is seemingly becoming a thing of the past, and while Valve’s revenue from the Steam storefront enabled Steam Deck to sell at a loss, handheld manufacturers should look to stick close to this template. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that will be the case even after this RAM price crisis eventually ends.
Analysis: The only thing that will change high handheld prices is a drop in sales
Other than a drop in DRAM prices via a possible collapse of the current AI boom, the only way the ridiculous prices of handhelds will end is if sales drop significantly, meaning consumers have to stop paying exorbitant prices for handhelds.
I’ve argued that there are gaming handhelds that warrant prices at or just above $1,000, but these aren’t from mainstream manufacturers, and the devices are equipped with processors that literally challenge laptop GPUs, especially the AMD Ryzen AI Max + 395.
Ryzen Z2 Extreme powering both the Legion Go 2 and the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X don’t do warrants the high price tags they carry, and the same goes for the MSI Claw A8 if the Newegg price holds.
As long as sales stay within a decent range for the likes of MSI, Asus and Lenovo, we’ll continue to see cases of overpriced devices – and that’s unfortunate, as I don’t think consumers feel strong enough to resist buying new devices.
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