Microsoft Scrapped Its Own Portable Xbox Over AMD’s Insane Demands

Microsoft has reportedly abandoned development of its portable Xbox. According to a leak, negotiations with AMD broke down after AMD insisted on a minimum order exceeding 10 million chips to justify designing a bespoke processor.

Insider KeplerL2 claimed the project was shelved because of AMD’s conditions:

“Microsoft canceled the handheld console because AMD contractually required a minimum production commitment of 10 million units!

The handheld was axed since AMD demanded a guarantee to produce over 10 million units in order to validate building a custom SoC. Given that the Steam Deck has sold roughly 5 million units and ASUS ROG/Lenovo Legion devices only about 1–2 million, Microsoft was unwilling to assume that risk.

AMD needed that commitment to justify its R&D expenditure.”

Few details about the console are available because the project was still in its early stages. The design was expected to draw on components used in the ROG Ally and include a dedicated AMD chip. With no agreement reached, Microsoft opted to terminate development rather than order a massive quantity of processors that might have no use.

Source: iXBT.games