Qualcomm aims to expand its presence in the budget laptop market by leveraging its Snapdragon C processor series. The company believes these chips offer a competitive edge in performance per watt compared to solutions from Apple and Intel, helping manufacturers manage costs amid rising memory prices.
The Snapdragon C series was initially designed for laptops priced at $300 or less. According to Kedar Kondap, senior vice president at Qualcomm Technologies, manufacturers are currently struggling with memory costs, leading some to reduce RAM to 8 GB or switch from OLED to LCD displays to maintain affordability.
Qualcomm has been active in the PC market since the 2023 launch of Snapdragon X Elite processors. Recently, Microsoft introduced new Surface laptops powered by Snapdragon X2 Plus chips, with Ubuntu Linux support for these processors expected to arrive in early 2025.
The company is also integrating mobile-derived technologies into laptops, such as enhanced video processing for webcams. Qualcomm expects this shift to improve video conferencing quality, potentially eliminating the need for external cameras on laptops, as seen in the latest Surface models.
