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Forward-looking: Qualcomm's new Snapdragon-powered offerings have allowed Windows laptops to finally catch up to MacBooks in terms of battery life, with some promising run times as long as 29 hours. But their premium pricing may be holding many buyers back. However, there's some good news in store. According to the company CEO, Qualcomm is targeting a significantly lower entry-level price point for its next generation of Snapdragon X laptops launching in 2025.
At Qualcomm's recent Q3 2024 earnings call, Cristiano Amon stated that the company's upcoming X-series roadmap will expand to offer PCs at retail prices as low as $700 without compromising the performance of the integrated AI acceleration hardware (if anyone cares about that). While he didn't explicitly mention laptop form factors, the statement suggests Qualcomm's affordable push will extend beyond small desktops, such as the current mini-PC desktop dev kit.
It's still early days for Qualcomm's PC ambitions, with the company declining to share sales figures for its first wave of X Elite and X Plus laptops. However, Amon confirmed that some models have already sold out of initial stock and that Qualcomm is working with OEMs on succeeding Copilot Plus PCs, according to a report by The Verge.
Amon expressed confidence that Qualcomm will emerge as "one of the top silicon suppliers" for AI PCs thanks to the AI performance advantages of its Snapdragon platforms. He believes the PC business, while ramping up slowly and steadily, will become the "biggest driver of diversification for the company."
The availability of cheaper Snapdragon X laptops could shake up the sub-$1,000 portable computing market dominated by Intel and AMD. Currently, the $999 Microsoft Surface Laptop is the most affordable option to offer all the benefits brought about by the Snapdragon X Plus.
Exactly how Qualcomm will hit the $700 price point remains to be seen. Of course, the most obvious scenario is paring back some specs and features. Alternatively, Qualcomm could take a page from Apple's playbook – Cupertino currently offers the 256GB Mac mini for just $599.
Beyond laptops, Qualcomm is also making waves in other areas. The company announced that two major unnamed Chinese OEMs have signed long-term patent licensing deals, and it plans to unveil a custom CPU design at the Snapdragon Summit later this year that will debut in flagship smartphone chips by early 2025.