Hardware company MSI has announced the price of its latest handheld gaming PC, as its marketing lead warns of a “tough year” ahead.
The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ was announced last month, and early estimates suggested the handheld would likely be priced around $1500.
The handheld has now been listed on MSI’s official store, however, and the price is $1,799.
For this, users get an Intel Arc G3 Extreme CPU, Intel Arc B390 graphics, 32GB of LPDDR5x memory, an 8″ IPS touch screen and 1TB of SSD storage.
In an interview with FRVR, MSI product marketing lead Andy Chu said the company tried its best to make the handheld as affordable as possible but noted that component costs made this difficult.
“All I can say is we have tried every approach to get the memory and also storage at a lower cost,” Chu explained. “Like, deepen the relationship between us and also those suppliers, to have some deals… and I think we have done everything we can do to make out system as affordable as possible.
“But unfortunately, I think the situation, the result is what you see right here. So, I would say, yes, it will be a tough year for us and for the gamer.”
Chu also said that while MSI’s latest handheld is expensive, when compared to the Steam Deck OLED – which, after its recent price hike, now costs $949 for tech that’s essentially four years old – the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ at least performs better in a market that’s now aimed solely at players who can spend a lot of money on hardware.
“I don’t know how the market will go, but I would say that the handheld market is now entering a time where it’s time to take a closer look at what it can offer,” he explained.
“Maybe in the past, for example, Steam Deck is really approachable in terms of the price, so maybe I didn’t need to think too much while getting one. But, as you can see, Steam Deck also costs a lot right now. So I say it’s good timing to take a look at what kind of the true potential or the capability of this new handheld can provide us.”
Chu also warned that he didn’t know whether the market would get cheaper any time soon, or whether the price of components could get even higher.
“I would say there’s much room for another price hike, at least from my own observation,” he said.
Last month Valve drastically increased the price of the Steam Deck, with both its 512GB and 1TB models increasing in price by more than 40%.
The 512GB model went up in price from $549 / £479 to $789 / £669, while the 1TB model rose from $649 / £569 to $949 / £779.
It wasn’t alone in this – the price of hardware has been increasing across the board. Last month, Nintendo announced that the Switch 2 would increase in price on September 1, from $449 to $449.
In March, Sony confirmed plans to increase the price of its consoles by at least $100 across the board. The premium PlayStation 5 Pro console increased by $150 and now retails for $900.
Microsoft also raised the prices of its Xbox consoles twice last year. A standard Xbox Series X consoles now retails for $649.99, up $150 since launch, and the cheaper Series S sells for $399.99, an increase of $100.
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