Qualcomm ramps up challenge to Intel and AMD with latest AI PC chip

Qualcomm launched a new PC processor on Wednesday as it looks to capitalize on electronics makers' desire to put artificial intelligence on their devices.

The move ramps up Qualcomm's efforts to challenge the dominance of Intel in the PC processor market at a time when the latter is facing mounting challenges.

Qualcomm took the wraps off the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core at the IFA conference in Berlin, Germany. The processor, designed for PCs running Microsoft's Windows operating system, promises to power AI processes with a long battery life.

The latest chips expand Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Series for PCs, which it launched last year.

The U.S. chip giant said the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core is designed for PCs costing as low as $700 as it looks to expand its semiconductors to more devices.

Qualcomm has traditionally designed chips that are used in the smartphones of many of the world's biggest players, including Samsung. But the company stepped up its PC efforts this year when Microsoft announced a Surface Laptop and a Surface Pro tablet with Qualcomm's X Series chips that can run some AI tasks without an internet connection. Microsoft calls these Copilot+ PCs.

In an interview with CNBC, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said that the company's push into PC chips forms part of a broader "diversification" story for the company away from just mobile chipsets. The company has also been building out its growing automotive business, with AI a key part of its strategy.

"We are on a journey to diversify and make sure our technology is now expanding into other markets," Amon said in a TV interview Wednesday.

He added that the PC market is "fundamentally" changing due to two things: mobile-PC convergence — in other words, people are coming to expect the same performance they get from their phones around things like battery life — and the convergence of AI with desktop computers.

Analysts said Qualcomm's timing to jump into PCs is key. Neil Shah, a partner at Counterpoint Research, highlighted a few converging themes that are helping the company. He highlighted the push toward "on-device AI," where artificial intelligence applications are processed on a piece of hardware rather than via the internet. Qualcomm has designed processors for smartphones that do this.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Series is built on architecture from British chip designer Arm, allowing the processors to run complex applications with good energy-efficiency. This is key to extending battery life on devices.

"Since the AI boom happened last year, everything has been centered around AI which works well for Qualcomm because they have been ahead in the low powered AI device experiences on mobile," Shah told CNBC.

"Translating that to the PC form factor was not that difficult."

The support of Microsoft has also been important for Qualcomm to hit the mainstream in PCs, since Windows is one of the world's biggest operating systems, Shah said.

"The stars have aligned for Qualcomm," Shah said.

The aim for Qualcomm going forward, CEO Amon said, will be expanding the company's AI-focused Snapdragon X line of chips to all personal computing devices, including smaller PCs.

"It's about now bringing AI PCs to mainstream," he told CNBC. "We see a great opportunity to expand your desktop market from scale."

"Next, we're going to see mini desktops from Qualcomm as well, and we're going to continue to add products and roadmap eventually to have the full range of products."

A number of major PC makers have adopted Qualcomm's Snapdragon X series chips for their devices. Companies like Lenovo have launched Copilot+ PCs based on Qualcomm chips and Windows operating system.

PCs are still a tiny portion of Qualcomm's overall revenue at the moment. But, Shah said, the number of PCs shipped with Qualcomm processors could grow 300% this year from last year.

While Microsoft said it would bring Copilot+ PCs with Intel and AMD chips to market at a later date, Qualcomm has pushed ahead.

To fight back, Intel launched its response to Qualcomm's PC chips on Tuesday. The Intel Core Ultra 200V series of processors are designed to power AI on PCs, the company said, and will be available this month. Intel touted the "power efficiency" of the chips in a press release as device makers look to bring high-performance AI with better battery life.

Amon said that Qualcomm will share an update in November about how many Surface PCs Microsoft has sold with chips from the chipmaking giant.

"Right now, they're actually exceeding our expectations," he said. "Microsoft and Qualcomm are both saying initial sales are exceeding expectations. But [we're] just at the beginning."