2024 was a banner year for Qualcomm on Computex, with the massive launch of its Snapdragon X Elite -Bearing Processors that put it in the front of the event. In fact, Qualcomm’s main note presentation last year was so impressive that I declared them the winners of the event, with guest stars from Made of Montra of Mayer from many of the best laptops, including Microsoft, HP, Dell and Asus, appearing with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon.
During today’s keynote speaker on Computex 2025, things were a little more muted. No exciting chip messages here; Instead, Amon got on stage and discussed the (admittedly quite good) Progress Qualcomm has done with the Snapdragon platform in the past year. A key factor he pointed to was the rapid growth of apps supported on the Snapdragon X Elite platform, along with the now 1,400+ games that can be played on Snapdragon -Bearing computers.
Like last year, Amon Qualcomm’s impressive features highlighted the Windows Computing market despite just entering the CPU match with Intel and AMD last year. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appeared briefly in the presentation with leaders from Asus and HP.
There were also some naughty jabs on Intel and Apple (the latter about the fact that Fortnite can be fully played on Snapdragon -hardware), plus the usual series of business drivel about how AI revolutionizes … something. Honestly, I voted out a little too little there until Amon fired a laptop live on stage, which continued to ask him (presumably human-course) questions about Qualcomm’s Ai-Hardware in a Synthy robotic voice. Pretty cool, I assume, but what really got my attention was a teaser at the end of the main presentation.
What is next for snapdragon
So even though we didn’t get new chips from Qualcomm on Computex, it seems that we now have a tacit announced date for the next generation of Snapdragon X System-on-A-CHIP (SOCS). It’s September 23: The date of Qualcomm’s own event, Snapdragon Summit, taking place in Hawaii.
What do we get exactly in September? Amon would not say that only the “revolution continues” and “I promise you that you will be impressed”. There are still some pretty reasonable assumptions that I am willing to do here.
While naming conventions are still a little up in the air (since we are only a single generation for Qualcomm’s Windows Barable Chips), the current popular assumption is that the next Gen-Soc will use ‘Snapdragon X2’ moniker, so I just want to go with this. I expect the initial launch will have both the X2 Elite and X2 Plus Chips for Premium and Medium -Bear -Bear Markets with broad integration across most productivity -bearable producers; Dells XPS series, Asus’s Zenbooks, Lenovos Yoga Line, The Works.
A ‘basic’ snapdragon x2 chip is likely to follow a little further down the line (similar to how the Snapdragon X-Chip was announced at CES in January this year), giving a more budget-conscious alternative. But I’m most interested in the rumored 2. Gen Snapdragon x Elite Chip for Desktops …
A stationary revolution?
Do we get a non-integrated snapdragon x2 elite? I wouldn’t quite bet on it; So far we have only seen Snapdragon chips in compact PCs from Lenovo as Lenovo. So don’t expect to see a third option beyond Intel and AMD when it comes to motherboards for DIY-PCs-but expect more mini-PCs and systems as the best all-in-one computers.
While ‘Team Q’ (still workshopping this name, I am open to suggestions!) Can be a relative newcomer in this particular industry, it has had a serious influence. Cristiano Amon’s keynote speaker included a somewhat surprising statistic: From the last quarter, Qualcomm now has approx. 9% of the integrated processor market for the United States and the 5 European markets. Given the fierce competition, it is a seriously impressive show.
Given how much Qualcomm changed the game with the arrival of its first x elite chips last year, I think the use of the word ‘revolution’ could actually be something justified here. I don’t say that easily; It is a phrase that I am often annoyed at seeing used to describe extremely marginal changes. But with Qualcomm finally doing Windows on arm work with the Snapdragon X series, I have high hopes of what Team Q is doing next.
