Xbox gaming handheld was cancelled because AMD needed 10 million units in its contract

The dedicated Xbox gaming handheld was cancelled because AMD required a minimum of 10 million units in its contract, a number impossible to hit.

Xbox gaming handheld was cancelled because AMD needed 10 million units in its contract
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Gaming Editor
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TL;DR: Rumors claim Microsoft canceled its Xbox gaming handheld due to AMD's 10 million unit minimum order, which was unfeasible given market demand. Despite denials, ongoing challenges and expected layoffs raise concerns about Xbox's future, though Microsoft insists it remains committed to developing first-party consoles and devices.

In fresh rumors dancing on top of the recent "debunked" rumors that "hardware production has ceased" on Xbox consoles, new rumors suggest Microsoft's dedicated Xbox gaming handheld was cancelled because AMD needed a minimum of 10 million units in its contract... and Microsoft knew that was impossible.

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Leaker "Kepler_L2" revealed the rumors, with Microsoft's almost professional defense systems -- Windows Central -- coming out and reporting that claims from Kepler "isn't even slightly true". AMD needing 10 million units at a minimum makes sense, in order to take up any important fab space and time at TSMC, but I think we all know it would be an impossible feat for Microsoft to sell 10 million Xbox gaming handhelds.

Kepler reported that AMD needed the commitment to justify their R&D, adding: "AFAIK the handheld was cancelled because AMD wanted a commitment of 10m+ units to justify making a dedicated SoC, but with Steam Deck only selling ~5 million units and ASUS ROG/Lenovo Legion only selling 1-2 million MS didn't want to take the risk".

It seems like every week there's another nasty story for Microsoft, and then there's always the denial through some website or post on X, but I don't think anything stop what is happening to Xbox, even Microsoft can't stop it. We are expecting new rounds of layoffs in Q1 2026, which will be a not-so-nice New Years present to staffers, but don't worry... Microsoft is "actively investing in our future first-party consoles and devices designed", in reply to the rumors from the last 48 hours.

Hey, Microsoft... if you're reading this, how did Kinect go? Pushed and pushed and pushed, even as an integral part of the Xbox 360. Steve Ballmer once even referred to the Kinect as the "new Xbox" in a presentation many years ago... a half-a-billion-dollar marketing budget, and Oprah Winfrey even gave away Xbox 360 consoles and Kinects on an episode of her TV show. Microsoft praised it, hyped it, and it did nothing to move the market, and died a very public death.

Personally, I was hyped as hell in the early 2000s for the original Xbox console, so much so that I would buy US gaming magazines (I'm based in Australia) to read everything I could on Microsoft's new gaming console. I purchased one the very second they landed in Australia, and pumped hundreds of hours into Halo, Project Gotham Racing, and more. I eventually worked at an IT retailer here in Adelaide, South Australia, where we were one of the stores where we would sell HDDs for modded Xbox consoles.

Now... story after story of negative news for Xbox... can Microsoft even steer the Xbox ship back from disaster at this point?