Qualcomm Unveils Advanced Snapdragon AI PC Chip: "Cheaper and Better Performance than Intel"

Amon CEO Holds Pre-IFA2024 Press Conference in Berlin
Targets Enterprise and Commercial Markets with AI PC Priced Around $700
"Cheaper Than Competitors' PCs Priced $900-$1000"
"Up to 61% Faster Than Intel Chips, 22% Faster Than AMD"

Christiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, unveiled new AI PC chips, Snapdragon X Plus '8-core' and '10-core,' on the 4th (local time) in Berlin, Germany, ahead of the opening of Europe's largest electronics exhibition, 'IFA 2024.'

He announced two additional products with fewer cores than the existing Snapdragon X Plus 12, with the announcement focusing mainly on the lowest-performing 8-core model.

The Snapdragon X Plus 8-core features Qualcomm's Orion CPU with 8 cores, integrated GPU, and a neural processing unit (NPU) capable of 45 TOPS (trillion operations per second).

Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, unveiled the new AI chip Snapdragon X series on the 4th (local time) in Berlin, Germany.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

CEO Amon emphasized that the new product outperforms competitor Intel and AMD chips while being more affordable. He stated, "The Snapdragon X Plus 8-core showed 61% faster CPU performance compared to the Intel Core Ultra 7." He added, "It also demonstrated 22% faster CPU performance than the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U while consuming less power."

CEO Amon explained, "The reason for focusing comparisons on the 8-core model is because we have confidence in its performance and leadership," adding, "We will provide more users with innovative AI experiences, best-in-class performance, and excellent battery life."

He expects that this chip will enable the release of 'Copilot+' PCs priced between $700 and $900 (approximately 940,000 to 1,210,000 KRW). Copilot+ PCs can use Microsoft's AI model, Copilot, without an internet connection. At the $700 to $900 price range, these AI PCs are considered mid-to-low priced.

He stated, "We will strengthen market dominance with mid-to-low-end models," and announced, "We are collaborating on Snapdragon X Plus 8-core products with Samsung Electronics, Acer, ASUS, Dell, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Lenovo."

At the event, Pavan Daboluri, Vice President of Microsoft's Windows and Devices division, explained, "Copilot+ PCs equipped with Snapdragon X Elite showed 58% faster multi-threaded performance than the MacBook Air M3," adding, "The battery performance, allowing 15 hours of web browsing and 22 hours of video playback, is 20% more power-efficient than the M3 chip in the MacBook Air."

CEO Amon showcased the collaboration with Microsoft by presenting a Manchester United football club jersey engraved with Vice President Daboluri's name at the event. Qualcomm is a sponsor of Manchester United and will feature the 'Snapdragon' logo on the front of the Manchester United jerseys this season. Amon said, "(This jersey) is proof of the amazing cooperation and partnership between Microsoft and Qualcomm," and added, "We want everyone to know not only about Qualcomm Snapdragon but also about Microsoft's Copilot PCs."