Qualcomm's CEO, Cristiano Amon, had predicted that ARM-based CPUs would capture a significant portion of the Windows PC market within five years. The company's reviews presented to the world had the Tame Apple Press gasping as they proved that Jobs’ Mob had fallen behind.
ARM's CEO made similar claims, suggesting ARM architecture would dethrone x86's market dominance. However, PassMark data contradicted these predictions.
Benchmark submission reports from PassMark show that out of 22,056 instances, 99.7 per cent involved x86 CPUs from AMD and Intel, while only 0.3 per cent were ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite chips.
ARM CPUs had just 56 submissions, highlighting the Snapdragon X lineup's limited market impact despite the initial hype.
Qualcomm's mainstream ARM offering, the Snapdragon X Elite series, is restricted to top-tier laptops under the Microsoft Copilot+ certification. While capable, these laptops haven't attracted many consumers due to their pricing.
The Snapdragon X Elite series is limited to high-end laptops under the Microsoft Copilot+ certification, which hasn't attracted many consumers due to pricing. The Snapdragon X Elite SKUs are new to the market, contributing to their low adoption rate.
It would appear that someone thought it wise to peddle a pricey gadget with risky technology when half the software was not in place. A similar issue plagued early versions of Arm on Windows, which sunk the whole project a while back.
This time the project is not dead in the water yet. Mid-tier laptops featuring Snapdragon X Elite CPUs are in development and the AI PC market is still in its early stages. Things will also change when the AMD Ryzen AI 300 and Intel Lunar Lake CPUs will provide a more precise comparison of ARM and x86 performance.
New x86 CPUs from AMD and Intel will significantly challenge Snapdragon X CPUs. Despite receiving Copilot+ PC certification later, Snapdragon CPUs will face competition from NVIDIA, which is also expected to enter the AI PC market.