The stagnation of Intel, an unquestionable benchmark when it comes to processors in recent years, added to the rise of ARM chips for computers – a trend driven mainly by Qualcomm and Apple – has given dynamism back to a sector, that of the PC, which had not received important news for more than five years.
One of the most important pieces in this transitory process is being Apple. The North American company has not only made a all-in with the ARM architecture; has also been able to amaze everyone with their first Apple Silicon processors for the Mac. They are so good, in fact, that computers with supposedly equivalent Intel processors have nothing to do with them.
But I wouldn’t want to put the focus on watts, Geekbench scores, or other synthetic tests. The fact of the matter is that this overtaking on the right by Apple has left a rather curious panorama in the semiconductor industry. And both Qualcomm and Intel are involved.
The uncertainty of how to respond to Apple
First, Intel faces the vital challenge of evolving its architecture enough to be competitive not only in power, but also in energy efficiency. The new CEO of the company announced a new roadmap with which they will try to regain the trust not only of customers, but also of their partners, which probably look to the future with some uncertainty. The problem is that the fruits, assuming the strategy is successful, do not emerge overnight. And the outlook, in any case, is not hopeful at the moment.
In parallel, a new actor has begun to take hold: Qualcomm. The North American company was one of the first to bet on ARM architecture in laptops. However, the results over these years have been mixed. Computers with these SoCs have autonomies higher than usual, 4G / 5G connectivity integrated in many cases, they can completely do without a fan and, consequently, have thinner and lighter chassis.
The problem is in the performance side. Qualcomm’s SoCs are not only not up to the mark of Apple Silicon; they also lag behind many Intel chips. At Qualcomm, they are obviously aware of this reality. In fact, earlier this year they announced the purchase of Nuvia, a company focused on high-performance ARM chips.
The root of this situation, however, you are not alone in the hardware. To this equation we must also add the compatibility of the applications with this new architecture. Windows 10 allows you to virtualize apps written for Intel chips, but performance obviously suffers. The catalog of software natively compatible with the new architecture, on the other hand, it is small, although Microsoft hopes to make this transition more dynamic with the arrival of Windows 11, which welcomes, among other things, ARM64EC.
The industry needs Qualcomm to be able to compete with Apple
Apple’s validation of the ARM architecture on computers has made the eyes of the rest of the sector quickly turn to her. More so, considering the situation of Intel. The problem is that no one in the industry currently has a solution comparable to Apple’s in performance per watt, so the entire industry runs the risk of being sidelined in the short term.
The only company that could avoid that outcome without having to wait several years is Qualcomm. And, if successful in that work, they would have many ballots to become the new Intel. That is to say: to be the default supplier of all those brands that do not want or can develop their own chips (HP, ASUS, MSI, Razer, etc.). A super succulent market that any company would like to have on its side.
It would not be a surprise that at the end of November, during the Snapdragon Summit, let’s get to know a new proposal oriented in this direction. The industry needs a Qualcomm strong enough to compete with Apple; and Qualcomm, of course, will not want to waste that opportunity.