Qualcomm hints at new data server processors, after a failed attempt to build Arm servers.
Qualcomm is once again working on products for the data center. CEO Cristiano Amon revealed during his Computex keynote in Taiwan that the chip manufacturer will soon announce “something unique and groundbreaking”. This would mark Qualcomm’s re-entry into a market it left in 2018 after a failed attempt to build Arm-based servers.
AI CPUs
According to Amon, there is room for Qualcomm if the company comes up with something truly innovative. “We have very interesting intellectual property in the field of CPUs,” he said. He is referring to the acquisition of Nuvia in 2021. This technology should allow Qualcomm to build CPUs optimized for AI, with high computing power and low energy consumption.
Amon did not provide a specific launch date or product specifications. Meanwhile, CNBC reported that Qualcomm is working on a custom CPU that works with Nvidia’s GPUs and software stack. “We’re busy,” he said.
Larger PC Market Share
The majority of Amon’s speech focused on Qualcomm’s AI ambitions in the PC market. He emphasized that 93 percent of the time on Snapdragon PCs is spent on native apps. Qualcomm currently has about 10 percent market share in PCs and considers this a good achievement.
He also referred to AI agents that proactively perform tasks. Such applications, according to Amon, will convince both businesses and consumers of the added value of AI PCs. In September, the company is expected to introduce a new generation of PC processors that have significant performance improvements compared to the Snapdragon X series.