Intel and AMD have long had a lock on the market for personal computers running Windows, but Qualcomm has a new chip that could give those companies a run for their money.
The San Diego-based wireless pioneer introduced its Snapdragon 8cx on Thursday at a three-day technology summit in Hawaii.
Qualcomm said the new chipset was created “from the ground up” for a new generation of personal computers featuring thin and light designs that are always on and always connected.
The chip is manufactured using 7 nanometer technology, which means some parts are as small as one-billionth of a meter. The chip reportedly packs over 5 billion transistors.
“With performance and battery life as our design tenets, we’re bringing 7nm innovations to the PC space, allowing for smartphone-like capabilities to transform the computing experience,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president and general manager of mobile for Qualcomm Technologies.
“As the fastest Snapdragon platform ever, the Snapdragon 8cx will allow our customers to offer a powerful computing experience of multi-day battery life and multi-gigabit connectivity, in new thin, light and fanless design for consumers and the enterprise,” he added.
Qualcomm said the Snapdragon 8cx is currently available in sample quantities and is expected to begin shipping in commercial devices in the third quarter of 2019.
