Apple continues to dominate the ARM notebook and computer business with its M-series of chips, while Qualcomm continues to play catch-up. Fortunately, the chipset maker has shown signs of progress as far as taking on Apple’s ARM-based silicon is concerned, as it reportedly has design wins on its upcoming Nuvia lineup. The flip side is that it will take a while before we get to see these in action since the expected launch is around two years from now.
First Qualcomm Nuvia Chips to Take on Apple’s M-Series Expected to Launch in 2024
The term ‘design wins’ means when a company like Qualcomm makes a reference design of silicon, which in this case, would be the first Nuvia-based SoC. This reference design can then be shown to one of Qualcomm’s partners, which may be Microsoft, for its Surface range of computers, with the latter using this reference design as a base to introduce its own chip, just like what Qualcomm does with its Kryo cores.
During an earnings call, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon provided an estimated launch timeline for when the first Nuvia chips would arrive. Apparently, these will continue to be branded under the Snapdragon name.
“Beyond 2023, we see a number of our strategic growth initiatives increasing in scale. We anticipate automotive revenues will grow consistent with our auto Investor Day projections as the design win pipeline materializes. We expect to see an inflection point in Windows on Snapdragon PCs in 2024 based on a significant number of design wins to date.”
While it is a positive sign that someone other than Apple is invested in developing ARM-based chips, our only disappointment is that Qualcomm is years behind in the race. Apple’s M2 Pro and M2 Max will likely see a launch in the first quarter of 2023, followed by the possible unveiling of the M3 for the more portable Mac models late next year.
Assuming that these Nuvia chips do not get side-tracked in terms of a launch, Qualcomm will effectively be behind Apple by three generations. Still, we are excited about what happens for the ARM Windows market in a couple of years, and hopefully, the results do not underwhelm.
News Source: Seeking Alpha
