Lenovo has cancelled some preorders of its Legion Go 2 handheld gaming PC, claiming that demand “substantially exceeded projections”.

The cancellations affect customers who ordered directly through Lenovo’s website. Units allocated to retail partners such as JB Hi-Fi and international outlets like Best Buy remain unaffected.

The A$2,199 Legion Go 2, which launches on September 25, was expected to begin shipping this month but many customers reported delays being pushed into October without clear communication.

The situation escalated when Lenovo confirmed via a Reddit post late last week that it would not be able to fulfil all direct preorders “in a timely manner.”

“We don’t believe in holding onto customer payments for products we can’t ship,” the company wrote. “As soon as our online inventory is replenished, Lenovo.com will show updated availability and ordering will reopen.”

The move has sparked frustration among fans, many of whom had preordered months in advance.

Commenters on Lenovo’s Reddit AMA criticised the brand for prioritising third-party retailers over loyal customers who purchased directly, while others said they wouldn’t reorder after this misstep.

It’s a disappointing stumble for Lenovo for what should have been a major launch.

The Legion Go 2 features an 8.8-inch OLED display with variable refresh rate, detachable controllers, a built-in kickstand and AMD’s Ryzen Z2 platform. Higher-end models offer up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, putting the device up against competitors like Asus’s ROG Ally X, set to launch globally on October 16.

Lenovo has promised more stock is already on the way to retail shelves worldwide and that it will use this experience as a “lesson” to better handle future rollouts.

For Australian gamers hoping to get their hands on Lenovo’s latest handheld, retail availability may now be the safest bet, though even that could prove a challenge with the surge in demand.