Desiring a larger portion of the PC market, Qualcomm believes that reducing the cost of Snapdragon X machines is the way forward. These include both laptop and potential desktop units, with prices starting around $700 for entry-level models.
While the new chips are fairly efficient compared to Intel and AMD counterparts, their x86 emulation leaves something to be desired. As a result, Qualcomm faces an uphill battle to entice newcomers. To lower the impact of non-native Arm apps, the company aims to make its chips more attractive in the price-to-performance ring instead.
“As we look forward to 2025, in addition to new design wins, our X series product roadmap will expand to address PCs with retail prices as low as $700 without compromising NPU performance,” says Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon during the company’s Q3 earnings call.
As a reminder, the cheapest model you can currently get is a Microsoft Surface Laptop at $999.99. There are also the dev kits at $900, but those are desktop units that lack a screen and peripherals.
A $300 discount is enough to attract many new users. For instance, I have a friend who was looking forward to the launch of Snapdragon X laptops and planned to get one. But after seeing the higher prices, which are equivalent to x86 alternatives, he decided against it. This is especially true as Snapdragon X CPUs still have many issues regarding app emulation, whereas x86 chips run them flawlessly.
It’s like with AMD’s Radeon GPUs, as long as the Red Team can’t match Nvidia’s feature set in quality, they can’t ask for the same exorbitant prices. In other words, Qualcomm is doing the right thing here. If you can’t beat Intel and AMD on performance and compatibility, go for the value proposition.
Qualcomm is also eyeing the desktop market with machines similar to Apple’s Mac Mini, combining efficiency, silent operation, and compact size. Assuming Qualcomm continues optimising its chips, these could become a great choice for office use. The brand said that it is already working with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) on the next wave of Copilot+ PCs. Some of these may be announced during the IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung) in Berlin next month.