Valve make no profit on the consoles themselves right? And if the steam deck profit model of making their money off of games applies to games bought on any handheld, then why not let the other companies have the higher end market and all the research and development costs that making a new console needs. Especially because each new generation would need a refresh to stay on top.(more r and d costs) So why wouldnt valve just keep making their current steam deck that runs stuff well enough for them to keep selling games.
Well, I think I have to apologize. I was totally wrong with my estimate, and Valve actually released new version of deck today (what a coincidence, right?): https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steamdeck_2023
I was not completely wrong, since speed remains the same, and screen resolution too, but they managed to make a bigger battery and lower consumption at the same time, and that’s pretty impressive, because they literally made deck EVEN MORE portable. And OLED screen is a nice addition for those who love to play outside.