Qualcomm Returns to Data Centers with AI Focus

At this year’s Computex, Qualcomm chose not to unveil new Snapdragon compute products as in previous years. Instead, the company focused on how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming edge devices—an area where Qualcomm sees immense opportunity.

As Qualcomm celebrates its 40th anniversary, CEO Cristiano Amon used his keynote speech to highlight a major milestone: Qualcomm’s expansion into the PC market and its redefinition of what personal computing can be in the AI era. Amon emphasized that this marks a powerful new chapter for the company, which has evolved over four decades from a mobile communications leader into a cutting-edge computing platform innovator.

“Being able to speak about computing at Computex is a meaningful moment for Qualcomm,” said Amon. “It shows how far we’ve come in innovation, particularly in edge and AI-enabled computing.”

Snapdragon X: Powering the New AI PC Era

A year ago at Computex, Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon X series, including the Snapdragon X Elite, designed specifically for PCs. Since then, a wave of AI-powered devices has emerged, showcasing superior performance and energy efficiency—core advantages of Snapdragon platforms.

Amon believes that Snapdragon will be the heart of the next generation of AI PCs, calling it one of the most significant product milestones in Qualcomm’s 40-year history. The Snapdragon X series, known for high performance and long battery life, has received strong support from industry partners. According to Amon, “Snapdragon X Elite has re-established Qualcomm’s performance leadership in the Windows ecosystem.”

During the keynote, Qualcomm announced that all 22 first-wave Copilot+ PCs developed in collaboration with Microsoft are powered by Snapdragon X Elite or Snapdragon X Plus chips. In total, more than 85 Copilot+ laptop designs using Snapdragon X chips are already confirmed, with over 100 expected by 2026. “This is just the beginning of our long-term journey with Microsoft,” said Amon. Qualcomm is also working with various AI PC vendors to strengthen its PC ecosystem presence.

Next Stop: High-Performance Laptops and Desktops

To further grow its PC footprint, Qualcomm revealed that it will launch a new platform—Snapdragon X2—in September 2025, targeting high-performance laptops and desktops. This upcoming platform will feature an 18-core third-generation Oryon V3 CPU, support up to 48GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and offer integrated 1TB NVMe SSD packaging. It may also include a discrete GPU.

With Snapdragon X2, Qualcomm aims to compete in the premium segment of the PC market, targeting 12% market share in the Copilot PC category by 2027.

Return to the Data Center

In addition to AI PCs, Qualcomm also announced plans to re-enter the data center CPU space, developing custom AI-centric processors designed for high performance and power efficiency. These new chips are expected to integrate with NVIDIA hardware, forming inference clusters optimized for AI workloads.

Amon noted that NVIDIA’s recent announcements underscore the increasing importance of CPUs in AI infrastructure. “The ability to build high-performance, low-power inference clusters is critical, and that’s where Qualcomm sees its next opportunity,” said Amon. “We’re expanding into the data center. While we can’t reveal all the details yet, expect to hear more soon.”

Although the PC market is mature, Amon believes Qualcomm can create new growth by offering disruptive and differentiated solutions—the same strategy it is applying to the data center. “Qualcomm has powerful CPU IP. And as CPUs evolve for AI, data centers are becoming AI-centric environments. That’s exactly where we’re headed.”