Qualcomm The company on Wednesday unveiled a new PC processor aimed at meeting demand from electronics makers to build artificial intelligence into their devices.
The move strengthens Qualcomm’s efforts to challenge its monopoly. Intel The company entered the PC processor market at a time when the market was facing increasing challenges.
Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor at its IFA conference in Berlin, Germany. Microsoft The Windows operating system promises to power AI processes with long battery life.
The latest chips are an expansion of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series for PCs, which it launched last year.
The US chip giant said it is looking to expand its chips into more devices and that the eight-core Snapdragon X Plus is designed for budget PCs costing around $700.
Qualcomm has historically designed chips used in smartphones from many of the world’s biggest companies, including Samsung, but the company stepped up its PC efforts this year when Microsoft unveiled Surface Laptops and Surface Pro tablets powered by Qualcomm’s X-series chips that can perform some AI tasks without an internet connection. Microsoft is calling these Copilot+ PCs.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said in an interview with CNBC that the company’s move into PC chips is part of the company’s broader “diversification” plan beyond just mobile chipsets. The company is also working to build out its growing automotive business, and AI is a key part of that strategy.
“We’re diversifying and trying to make sure our technology expands to other markets,” Amon said in a television interview on Wednesday.
He added that the PC market is “fundamentally” changing due to two factors: the convergence of mobile and PC – where people expect the same performance as they get from their phones in terms of things like battery life – and the convergence of AI and desktop computers.
Analysts say the timing of Qualcomm’s move into PCs is key. Neil Shah, a partner at Counterpoint Research, highlighted several common themes in the company’s favor. He highlighted the push toward “on-device AI,” where artificial intelligence applications are processed on hardware rather than over the internet. Qualcomm has designed the smartphone processors that make this possible.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series, on the other hand, is based on an architecture developed by the British chip design company. armThis enables the processor to run complex applications with great energy efficiency, which is key to extending a device’s battery life.
“Since the AI boom last year, everything has revolved around AI, which bodes well for Qualcomm, which has been a leader in low-power AI device experiences on mobile,” Shah told CNBC.
A view of the Qualcomm logo at Mobile World Congress 2024.
Ramon Costa | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
“It wasn’t that hard to translate that into a PC form factor.”
Shah said Microsoft’s support was also important to Qualcomm’s push into the PC mainstream because Windows is one of the world’s largest operating systems.
“It was a stroke of luck for Qualcomm,” Shah said.
PC Chip Roadmap
Going forward, Amon said Qualcomm’s goal is to expand its AI-focused Snapdragon X chip series into all personal computing devices, including small PCs.
“The time has come to make AI-enabled PCs mainstream,” he told CNBC. “We see this as a huge opportunity to expand the desktop market at scale.”
“Next, we will have a mini desktop from Qualcomm. We will continue to add more products and develop a roadmap so that we will eventually have a full lineup of products.”
Many major PC makers are using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X-series chips in their devices. Lenovo It launched the Copilot+ PC, which is based on a Qualcomm chip and Windows operating system.
For now, PCs still make up a small percentage of Qualcomm’s overall sales, but Shah said shipments of PCs with Qualcomm processors could be 300 percent higher this year than last year.
Microsoft has partnered with Intel to develop Copilot+ PC Am The chips are expected to hit the market at a later date, but Qualcomm is getting ahead of it.
To fight back, Intel on Tuesday announced its response to Qualcomm’s PC chips. The company said its Intel Core Ultra 200V series processors are designed to run AI on PCs and are due to ship this month. In a press release, Intel touted the chips’ “power efficiency” as device makers strive to deliver high-performance AI and longer battery life.
Amon said Qualcomm plans to provide an update in November on how many Surface PCs Microsoft has sold using the semiconductor giant’s chips.
“So far, they’ve actually exceeded our expectations,” he said. “Both Microsoft and Qualcomm have said that initial sales are exceeding their expectations. But [we’re] We’re just getting started.”