More challenges for Intel? Reuters has shared a new report that claims NVIDIA, as well as AMD, are currently developing CPUs for PCs that are based on Arm technology. According to at least one of the publication’s sources, the first of these chips could reach the market as early as 2025, complementing Qualcomm’s own future Arm-based processors, which will apparently include a new flagship sold under the Snapdragon X brand. Reuters noted in its report that Qualcomm currently has an exclusivity arrangement to develop Windows-compatible chips, but that’s set to expire next year.
“Microsoft learned from the 90s that they don’t want to be dependent on Intel again, they don’t want to be dependent on a single vendor,” said Jay Goldberg, chief executive of finance and strategy consulting firm D2D Advisory. “If Arm really took off in PC (chips), they were never going to let Qualcomm be the sole supplier.”
[NVIDIA’s] new pursuit is part of Microsoft’s effort to help chip companies build Arm-based processors for Windows PCs. Microsoft’s plans take aim at Apple, which has nearly doubled its market share in the three years since releasing its own Arm-based chips in-house for its Mac computers, according to preliminary third-quarter data from research firm IDC.
Nvidia and AMD could sell PC chips as soon as 2025, one of the people familiar with the matter said. Nvidia and AMD would join Qualcomm (QCOM.O), which has been making Arm-based chips for laptops since 2016. At an event on Tuesday that will be attended by Microsoft executives, including vice president of Windows and Devices Pavan Davuluri, Qualcomm plans to reveal more details about a flagship chip that a team of ex-Apple engineers designed, according to a person familiar with the matter.