Qualcomm arrived at Computex 2024 with the wind behind its sails following the designation of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors as the “exclusive” platform for Microsoft Copilot+ PC laptops. 22 of them in fact as senior company executives including CEO Christiano Amon repeatedly reminded the media, analysts, and show attendees.
This is indeed an impressive number for a new kid on the processor block, so to speak, but it didn’t take long for AMD and Intel to show the growing momentum of their Ryzen AI 300 Series and Lunar Lake platforms. While Asus touted one CoPilot+ laptop featuring the Qualcomm X Elite processor, the Vivobook S 15, the company rolled out nearly ten other models based on AMD Ryzen platforms. In his keynote, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced 80 Lunar Lake design wins, nearly four times as many as Qualcomm’s.
Qualcomm’s all-singing, all-dancing Hexagon NPU (neural processing unit) performance story did not fare particularly well in its first encounter with reality either. Having started the Computex as top of the TOPS (trillion operations per second) with 45 TOPS, it ended up in the bottom with the AMD Ryzen NPU hitting 50 TOPS, MediaTek achieving 68 TOPS with its Dimensity 9300+ smartphone SOC, and Intel claiming over 120 TOPS for its Lunar Lake platform including CPU and GPU AI acceleration.
Qualcomm does of course enjoy some advantages over AMD and Intel including better power efficiency and its current exclusivity for Microsoft Copilot+ PC laptops, but the company faces strong headwinds in the processor market with a limited product lineup and low brand awareness amid a highly competitive environment. While Qualcomm is sure to experience a pop in sales when the first Microsoft Copilot+ PC laptops arrive on the market later this month, it is not clear whether this will be enough for the company to establish a strong beachhead before Intel and AMD enter the segment in Q4.
Long time technology industry fan here in Taiwan.
