Valve make no profit on the consoles themselves right? And if the steam deck profit model of making their money off of games applies to games bought on any handheld, then why not let the other companies have the higher end market and all the research and development costs that making a new console needs. Especially because each new generation would need a refresh to stay on top.(more r and d costs) So why wouldnt valve just keep making their current steam deck that runs stuff well enough for them to keep selling games.
GabeN said as much when he stated that the pricing was painful, but critical and that he expected it to establish a new product category for Valve and other manufacturers to participate in. with them reaping the long-term benefits, of course.
the only remaining piece of the puzzle is Valve releasing a fully-compatible SteamOS 3 for other devices. they don’t need to, but i imagine they want it to secure their reach.