Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:

Valve is hoping other hardware manufacturers hop on board this trend, so with lots of different SteamOS handhelds on the market there won't be any one spec to optimize for. And it's also why I think Valve will continue putting out new models every couple years for as long as it's profitable for them. If this doesn't catch on, then they'll drop it as quickly as they've dropped everything else, though.

Though this scenario presents a problem. Valve is using its monopoly power as the platform holder to sell the cheapest model at a very low profit margin, or potentially even a loss. That makes it borderline impossible for other manufacturers to compete. Valve can make that money back on game sales, but the other manufacturers can't. They'd have to either sell at a higher price and be undercut by Valve or attempt to corral users into their own marketplaces. So I don't really understand how Valve expects a robust ecosystem of handhelds to arise in this situation.