Wu insisted the market reaction has been sweeter than expected, which is corporate speak for “we thought this thing might flop, but apparently not”.

He reminded investors that Asus rolled out the first ROG Ally two or three years ago as a trailblazer and claimed the Windows handheld niche has proven itself.

Wu said: “We believe that we have achieved our original goals in terms of premium positioning and creating a new growth driver in the gaming segment. That is why we launched the 3rd-generation ROG Ally last month. It featured deeper collaboration with Xbox. Since its launch, we have seen an extremely positive market response. Particularly, there has been an appetite for the premium higher-end models exceeding our expectations. In fact, these high-end variants are currently in short supply. We are working closely with key component suppliers to ramp up production and fill the demand gap. Our goal for the ROG Ally is to remain a core pillar within the Asus gaming portfolio, while also driving tangible revenue and profit growth for the company.”

Wu claimed that the launch will contribute between three and five billion New Taiwan dollars, which is about 87 to 145 million euros, and that the figure could creep toward four to five billion NT dollars in future quarters, which works out at 116-145 million euros.

The ROG Xbox Ally X review by David Carcasole praised the meaty hardware but griped about the price, wondering if anyone would cough up for it. Judging by Asus’s smug tone, there are plenty of takers, which probably explains why the high-end variants have disappeared from shelves.