For years we have become accustomed to the struggle between Intel and AMD to lead the processor market. Currently, Intel dominates this market without any problem, despite the good AMD Ryzen processors. Well, the company Qualcomm , manufacturer of Snapdragon chips , assures that in 2024 they will go for Intel in the PC segment.
The reality is that there are laptops that already use Snapdragon processors and run Windows. The problem is that they are not even remotely competitive for AMD, much less for Intel. But, the company has set itself the challenge of not competing in the laptop market, but in the desktop computer market.
wants to go for Intel and AMD, with everything
It is very possible that Snapdragon processors are familiar to you, present in a large number of smartphones and tablets on the market. They are quite powerful chips that offer good performance with low consumption. But, these chips are far from being able to compete in power with the Intel Core and AMD Ryzen.
An Meng, CEO of Qualcomm, during the meeting to expose the accounts of the company has revealed something important. He has said that by 2024 he hopes that PCs based on a Snapdragon and that use Windows will generate a turning point in the market. Come on, the company wants to make the leap to a market dominated by only two manufacturers.
Above all, he stressed that Microsoft is working on optimizing Windows for processors based on the ARM architecture . Note that all Snapdragon are based on this type of design.
Qualcomm, after the acquisition of Nuvia, says it wants to follow in the footsteps of Apple with its M1 and M2 chips. They point out that they stopped using a public version of the architecture and started developing high-performance PC processors from scratch. As indicated, the idea is to challenge Intel and AMD.
Not only that, but they also expect OEM system builders to show their support. Currently, few clone systems use the Snapdragon 8cx, Qualcomm’s most powerful SoC. These systems, despite being cheap and efficient, are really not very powerful and quite irrelevant.
A warning that will hardly disturb Intel and AMD
The truth is that it seems difficult for Intel to be concerned about this bet by Qualcomm. Apple has stopped using their chips and seems to have cared little or nothing. AMD should not worry either, since its Ryzen processors are very powerful and well valued.
There is a huge difference between Apple and Qualcomm. Apple has a closed ecosystem of hardware and software, so optimization is dead simple. Qualcomm doesn’t have this ecosystem, relying on third-party hardware and a Microsoft operating system geared toward a different type of processor design.
Although the proposal is interesting from the point of view of greater competition, the reality is harsh. It seems very complicated that they can compete with the Intel Core and AMD Ryzen. It is possible that they compete in the entry-level range or generate very cheap and efficient Mini PCs, but beyond that, the task is hard, very hard.