While AMD's Strix Point APUs and Intel's Lunar Lake vie for dominance in the thin and light notebook market, an unintentional leak of a shipping list has thrust Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 chip into the limelight. The enigmatic SKU (SC8480XP) labeled "Ultra Premium" not only signals the ambition behind the second generation of Snapdragon PC chips but also unveils Qualcomm's ambitious strategy in the Arm architecture PC battlefield.
Anyone who thought Qualcomm might slow down after the lukewarm reception of the initial X series has clearly underestimated their aspirations. Despite the Snapdragon X Elite's impressive debut with 45 TOPS of AI power, the stark reality is that the Microsoft Surface still trails the Ryzen 7 8840HS by about 18% in multi-threaded performance during real-world testing. The shipping list, under the "Glymur" codename chip, reveals Qualcomm's corrective measures: the next-generation Oryon core will be upgraded from 12 cores to 16 cores and will feature the TSMC N3E 3nm process, directly competing with AMD's Hawk Point and Intel's Arrow Lake product developments.
The "Ultra Premium" product positioning adds an intriguing dimension. Sources suggest this could be Qualcomm's first clear demarcation in the PC chip domain: the Elite series will cater to mid-range, thin, and light devices, while the Ultra Premium will boast a dual NPU design with AI performance surpassing 100 TOPS, directly challenging Apple's M4 Ultra. This strategy resembles the tiered approach seen in the mobile market with Snapdragon's high-end series, positioning "Ultra Premium" as a technological benchmark and later addressing the mainstream market's needs.
Qualcomm's ace isn't merely on drawing boards. Earlier this year, they enlisted Xeon server chip chief architect Glenn Hinton from Intel into the Snapdragon X2 team. The objective is clear: leveraging Hinton's expertise in large-scale chip design to address the early X series' multi-core scheduling inefficiencies. Additionally, the competition for TSMC's N3E capacity is intensely fierce—Apple, NVIDIA, and AMD occupy 40%, 30%, and 15% of the orders respectively, while Qualcomm has preemptively secured Q2 2025 production capacity, betting heavily on the X2 series' potential.
Nonetheless, the true challenge lies within the software ecosystem. Despite Microsoft's efforts to optimize the 64-bit Arm emulator for Snapdragon X2, Steam's hardware survey indicates that the current game compatibility rate of Windows devices on Arm architecture remains below 60%. Consequently, Qualcomm is discreetly advancing the "Project Aurora" initiative: by acquiring certain game engine teams, they aim to directly engage in Arm-native game development. Whether this "referee and player" approach can replicate the ecosystem success of Apple's M chips remains uncertain.
All technical strategies eventually face the harsh realities of pricing. Supply chain reports reveal that the Ultra Premium chip's cost is 23% higher than the first-generation X Elite. However, Qualcomm plans to keep the pricing of complete systems under $1,599, about 10% less than x86 models with similar configurations. This strategy is fueled by a dual calculus: leveraging the 3nm process's energy efficiency to inspire manufacturers to produce sleeker flagship models and capitalizing on the Copilot + AI PC innovation, presenting 100TOPS performance as "the productivity standard for the next decade."
Yet, the industry's prevailing concern is that this radical strategy might mirror past mistakes seen in the mobile market. According to research from Counterpoint, the current repair rate of Arm architecture Windows laptops is 1.8 times that of x86 models, with most issues centered around driver compatibility. If Qualcomm fails to establish comprehensive developer support before launching its new products, the so-called "super advanced" lineup might remain mere specs on paper.
As Qualcomm ventures into the PC realm with tactics reminiscent of those in the mobile market, AMD and Intel's stronghold is encountering unprecedented challenges. However, this battle offers no swift victory—just as Intel took years to falter in the mobile market, the Arm alliance requires more than just competitive performance figures to replicate their success in PCs; a complete value chain from chips to software and from developers to consumers is essential. The PC market in 2025 may indeed be more exciting than we can currently imagine.
