Qualcomm launched the new system-on-chip Snapdragon X at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, targeting the mid-range PC market. The company stated that this chip is manufactured using a 4-nanometer process and can provide battery life of "multiple days" along with powerful performance, including support for running the latest AI Software, with PCs priced as low as $600.

Qualcomm stated that Snapdragon X will be configured in a range of Microsoft Copilot+PCs, equipped with AI-driven tools and applications. These Copilot+PCs are expected to be launched in the first quarter of this year, with a price of around $600.

According to reports, Snapdragon X is equipped with Qualcomm's Oryon CPU, featuring 8 cores with a maximum clock speed of up to 3GHz. In addition, this chip also integrates a neural processing unit (NPU), which is said to accelerate AI workloads.

Qualcomm promotes the key advantage of its products as the ultra-long battery life of devices based on its chips. Qualcomm stated that its chips are optimized for small battery-powered devices from the initial design, making them more efficient than the reduced-size desktop chips offered by competitors.

Other highlights include compatibility with Bluetooth 5.4, support for Wi-Fi 7, and the ability to support up to three external UHD (4K) displays running at 60Hz. PC manufacturers adopting the Qualcomm Snapdragon X platform (including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP Inc, and Lenovo) will also receive additional features such as Qualcomm's audio and video suite and proprietary image processing technology.

The company stated that PC manufacturers such as Dell and Lenovo will launch laptops based on this new product early this year. Among them, Lenovo's new ThinkCentre neo 50q QC and IdeaCentre Mini x (1L, 10) both use Snapdragon X series processors, although the specific configurations differ slightly. The ThinkCentre neo 50q QC is equipped with Snapdragon X Plus or Snapdragon X, depending on the configuration, while the IdeaCentre Mini x (1L, 10) uses Snapdragon X Plus.

The Snapdragon X Plus was launched in the spring of last year, just following the release of Snapdragon X Elite in October 2023. Qualcomm also introduced a lower configuration, cheaper variant of X Plus in September 2023.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon has been pushing Qualcomm into the PC market, seeing it as an important pillar to reduce the company's reliance on smartphone chips. For a long time, Qualcomm has dominated the high-end Smart Phone market.

However, so far, Qualcomm has not posed a significant threat to market giants like Intel and AMD in the PC chip market. According to a recent industry report, Qualcomm holds only 0.8% of the PC market share in the third quarter of 2024. Moreover, compatibility issues with Windows Software based on Qualcomm chip architecture still need to be addressed.

However, Peter Burns, senior director of product marketing at Qualcomm, stated to the media last week:

"Currently, over 60 designs for Copilot+ PC powered by Snapdragon have been launched or are under development."

"In 2024, the number of native Windows applications on the Snapdragon platform has tripled."

"The new mini and small desktop PCs mark an important milestone for our PC Business. Developers can now leverage the design options and unprecedented energy efficiency of the Snapdragon desktop platform to build more efficient and powerful applications for Windows on Snapdragon, providing NPU acceleration capabilities."

Earlier on Monday, Intel announced the launch of new chips and claimed to have regained an advantage in Battery life. However, Qualcomm questioned this, stating that its chips can maintain full performance even when laptops are unplugged, while devices using competitor processors need to reduce performance to save power.