Qualcomm blames the bleak Windows on ARM laptop market on manufacturers’ pricing too outrageous
2 min read
Windows on ARM notebook computers have not been able to get a big response in the market, one of the main reasons is that the product price is not outstanding. What’s more, when the function is not as good as the Intel (x86) platform, it also faces compatibility issues. Now, Qualcomm seems to understand this. In an interview with Golem.de, Qualcomm’s senior director of product management Miguel Nunes blamed it on “OEM manufacturers have set a guide price of more than $1,000 for always-connected PCs.”
Although Nunes stated that the pricing depends on the OEM, there is also news that the pricing of ARM chipsets such as Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx and Intel x86 chips are roughly the same, but the performance of the two is obviously not at the same level.
Take the Microsoft Surface Pro X currently on sale as an example, its price is more than 1,500 US dollars. Of course, we should not ignore other reasonably priced models, such as the Samsung Galaxy Book Go, which retails for less than $500.
All in all, the bigger obstacle to the popularization of Windows on ARM mobile devices is not the cost of the device itself, but the value that consumers can feel.
A successful case in this regard is Apple’s Apple Silicon M1 MacBook. If the performance is equal to or better than the x86 platform, consumers will obviously not be too entangled in which chipset the device is based on.
As for whether Qualcomm and Microsoft can work together to lead Windows on ARM to a brighter future, it depends on whether the follow-up Windows 11 on ARM can bring tangible improvements.
