For PC side, Steam has very few shortcomings. You can sell Steam games in retail as well, and some still do, albeit a small minority. You can’t resell them though.
It's beyond rare.
For this particular handheld though, sales will heavily depend on the price and feature set.
Agreed
Maybe such a device could natively play say PS1, PS2 (classics or PS4 ports), PS3 (one can dream), PSP (one can dream 2.0), Vita (yeah, that’s a bit delusional), and PS4 games while being able to stream PS5 locally or from the cloud.
I think you are overstating the value of PS1-3 games.
I think the above would have some sales potential. And after a few years new version could be released that could natively play PS5 games (once hardware is available and reasonably priced).
The vast majority of people don't care about these games.
I think an upgraded model that plays native PS5 games and scaled-down PS6 games would be an obvious iteration and essentially keeps the platform going.
PS4 ports is literally one of the first things mentioned in the OP
Maybe you don't know what a port is. This would play PS4 games natively.
And going forward, not a single one of these will skip the Switch 2. Many will get ported.
This is entirely made up.
There’s no feasible chance of Street Fighter 6 not being a launch title on Switch 2, for example.
Even if it is, what would make SF6 sell on the Switch 2 rather than a PS Handheld, especially if the PS Handheld plays the game better.
Sales of the Steamdeck and other competitors will continue to grow, and the next gen versions will likely put the power of a Series S in your hands.
Guaranteed PC ports - including PlayStation’s GaaS games day one - and all PlayStation PC ports will suck up a significant amount of western buyers who would have ordinarily picked up a PlayStation handheld.
A PlayStation Handheld is in the exact same situation. With Xbox bringing over games to PlayStation and there not being a real competitor to the PS5 moving forward and likely the PS6, all games are going to be developed for it and thus a PlayStation handheld.
Again the difference is that one is going to be sold in retail and the other isn't.
It’d get absolutely cooked by the Switch 2 in Japan, and even globally since the Switch 2 would certainly be powerful and successful enough to get ports of the vast majority of third party games for quite a while. And while the Deck et al aren’t really drawing sales off the Switch, it would be a different discussion for a Sony handheld.
I remember a time when Sony and Nintendo released similarly powerful systems with similar prices and who came out on top. What the Switch 2 won't have is Sony titles and vice versa, but it will probably have the edge on power.
People should stop assuming the Switch 2 will simply sell as well as the Switch without accounting for price and without the sales momentum of the Switch, it's absolutely fair game for competition from a PlayStation handheld, especially one with a better built up library of 3rd party support.