Tariffs might just ruin retro gaming handhelds

Yahoo

30-04-2025

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In about a week and a half, the U.S. will begin imposing much higher tariffs on products and packages purchased from a few countries, namely China. As a result, a myriad of companies have raised prices in an attempt to counteract the higher costs. However, some companies, such as Anbernic, are halting shipments to the U.S. entirely.
Just last week, Retroid announced that despite its best efforts, those in the U.S. who pre-ordered the Pocket Classic in Kiwi, Teal, or Berry would have to either pick a different color or cancel their orders entirely. This is due to an imposed deadline of April 25, at which point "shipping agencies will not accept U.S.-bound packages from China."
This was just the first domino to fall, as Anbernic has recently updated its Shipping Policy landing page. There's a notice at the top of the page that says, "Due to changes in U.S. tariff policies, we will be suspending all orders shipping from China to the United States starting today. We strongly recommend prioritizing products shipped from our U.S. warehouse."
A message recently shared on the AYN Discord channel seemingly confirmed that it, too, will be making changes. The company will continue shipping orders until April 25, "then pause for a week and try to choose a new channel for shipping after May 5th." Currently, AYN offers either DHL or 4PX for shipping, with the customer being able to choose during the checkout process.
Taking a breather and going back to the drawing board seems to be the most logical move. It's something we saw Nintendo do in regards to the Switch 2 launch, after the company delayed pre-orders in the U.S. As a result, many began worrying whether the Switch 2, which is made in Vietnam, would end up being priced even higher than the $449 retail price.
Ultimately, Nintendo decided against raising the price of the Switch 2 itself, but confirmed that "Switch 2 accessories will see price adjustments." However, there's still a chance that the Switch 2 will eventually cost more, depending on how much inventory Nintendo has on hand in its U.S. warehouses.
Anbernic's decision to suspend shipments to the U.S. comes at an interesting time, as the company only just recently announced its latest gaming handheld, the RG557. However, pre-orders for the device haven't even opened yet, and we're interested to see how things will play out.
The company has warehouses in both China and the U.S., but given how quickly the tariff situation has developed, we're not sure what inventory levels might look like. Although it's unlikely, there's even a chance that Anbernic wasn't able to get any inventory into the States.
Then there are AYANEO and OneXSugar, two companies that announced devices earlier this year but have yet to provide any availability updates. AYANEO's Pocket ACE looks to be one of the most pocketable and powerful handhelds we've ever seen, utilizing the Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 and sporting a 4.5-inch display.
OneXSugar's Sugar1 is set to be one of the first devices to be powered by the new Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, announced at GDC 2025. While flagship power is great, the real story is the dual-screen design, essentially offering a modern (and futuristic) take on the Nintendo DS.
While we're excited to see both of these gaming handhelds launched, we're also expecting to be disappointed. It wouldn't come as a shock if neither of these ended up arriving in the U.S. If they do, I suspect that we're in store for some rather high price tags.
Unfortunately, this entire situation is out of our hands, meaning we're just at the mercy of OEMs, shipping partners, and retailers. It also means that even if you are (or were) willing to pay the tariffs, you might end up finding an order being canceled just because you live in the U.S.
In the weeks leading up to the deadline, companies have been trying to bring as much inventory into the U.S. as they can. So it's likely that we'll see a bit of a buffer between now and when the inventory runs out. After that, all bets are off, and we simply won't know what the landscape of things will look like until the time has arrived.
Some OEMs and retailers, such as Anbernic and AliExpress, have U.S. warehouses that you can order from. Besides that, Amazon resellers are probably your next best bet. But no matter what, be prepared to pay more than what the original retail price was.
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