It is hard to believe that one of the most popular devices in the retro handheld market could just disappear entirely. But it would seem that the Miyoo Mini could be dead forever.
So what would cause the Mini to no longer be available at the height of its demand?
Well, you might be surprised when you find out the reason.
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Miyoo Mini Scarcity
If you’ve ever made an attempt to purchase a Miyoo Mini, then surely you have seen just how impossible that task has been.
Because of its reputation as one of the best retro handhelds of 2022, the Mini is a highly sought-after device.
But the demand is not the only cause for all of the scarcity. Miyoo simply cannot produce enough units to keep them available.
Small batches of Minis will go up on the official Miyoo Aliexpress account and they are gone within minutes.
A lot of people blame “bots” and greedy resellers for purchasing them all. Which may or may not be true.
Whoever is buying them… there is just not enough supply for all of the real people hoping to get their hands on a Miyoo Mini.
In a perfect world, Miyoo bumps up their production capabilities and delivers way more units. They sell more, we buy more, everybody is happy.
But even if Miyoo wanted to make more devices (they do), it would seem that the Mini could disappear from the market completely for a pretty strange reason:
The Nail In The Coffin
According to recent discussions within the handheld community, the main cause for the potential perma-death of the Miyoo Mini will be a lack of available screens.
Miyoo cannot find the screen parts they need to produce more Minis.
There have been mentions of problems sourcing screens for a while now. And we know that Miyoo have changed the screens used in the Mini a couple of times.
They have even had some quality control complaints regarding faulty screens and a very noticeable difference in screens from one unit to another.
A lack of available screens seems like a pretty strange reason for a popular device to just disappear entirely.
But the sourcing issue is truly that dire, according to Miyoo themselves.
“There is no screen available for production […] these 200 sets are the last batch”.
If that message is to be trusted, Miyoo can only source enough screens to produce one more batch of 200 units, and then the Mini will be off the market indefinitely.
Miyoo will likely have to revisit the Mini at a later date and come up with a true successor that leverages a new screen and an updated design.
Miyoo Mini +
The bigger brother to the Miyoo Mini was revealed just a couple of weeks ago; the ironically named Miyoo Mini +.
The Mini+ is a medium sized device with a 3.5 inch screen, identical to the screen used in the Anbernic RG35XX.
It was obvious that the RG35XX was Anbernic’s answer to the Mini, and Miyoo quickly fired back with the Mini+.
Many of us were excited for a version of the Miyoo Mini that better suited larger hands and poor vision.
The new Mini+ was not a successor or replacement for the Mini, by any means.
They were different enough in size that we imagined both would be quite desirable for the foreseeable future.
Nobody expected that there was a chance we’d see an end to the Mini quite so soon, at the height of its popularity and demand. But here we are.
The Rumor Mill
We would love to tell you that companies like Miyoo or Anbernic work directly with writers in the gaming media like the crew here at RetroDodo. But, sadly, that is not the case.
A lot of times we are at the mercy of the same rumor mill as everyone else.
One of the most common sources of “information” is through chatter within the enthusiast community and screenshots of messages with companies like Miyoo.
As you can see, Miyoo is more than happy to respond to messages on Aliexpress. But often times the information given is not a guarantee.
There are very few in the true “know” of information, and even the people within the companies seem a bit clueless at times.
Things like component shortages, reoccurring virus outbreaks, poor communication… you can see how the instability and fragility of our current world dramatically effects business.
And we all just have to ride the wave and see what happens.
Anthony has been a video game lover ever since he can remember. He became a fulltime nomad in 2018, living throughout most of Asia. He focused his passion in retro gaming and began creating a game for the Game Boy Color while living in Nara, Japan during the 2020 pandemic. He is now in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he spends most of his time gaming, going on long walks and meeting as many stray dogs as possible.
