They’re privately owned, not every project needs to be profitable. It can just not lose money and strengthen the Steam ecosystem where the real profit is.

If this thing becomes unobtanium unless you’re a game studio or a journalist, but becomes a standard optimization/compatibility target for game developers like the Steam Deck has been, I would consider it successful, imo.

They may not recoup R&D costs for a while depending on volume, but they will make a profit per unit. They can't sell them as loss leaders like regular console manufacturers can, since then general computer buyers would get them as a priced down unlocked PC.

The Steam Deck also sells out but the overall userbase is a drop in the ocean compared to the Switch.