Qualcomm Snapdragon X Laptops See Sluggish Adoption As PassMark Reports 0.3% Share Against x86’s 99.7%

Qualcomm Snapdragon X CPUs & the first "AI PC" laptops were all the hype a few weeks back but it looks like actual adoption isn't as great, just like the actual performance which has been a mixed bag so far.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon X lineup, which was expected to shake things up in the AI PC market, hasn't had the consumer response it might have anticipated. Back when the CPUs were initially announced, Qualcomm's CEO, Cristiano Amon, claimed that ARM-based CPUs are expected to grasp a major portion of the Windows PC market, reaching up to 50% by the next five years.

A similar statement had also been made by ARM's CEO as well, claiming that the architecture is set to dethrone x86's monopoly over the markets; however, data from PassMark shows that this isn't the case at all.

In the past 30 days, we've seen 22,000 x86 Windows benchmark submissions vs. just 56 ARM Qualcomm Elite (that’s 0.3% of all Windows benchmark submissions). Given Qualcomm CEO's claim that ARM could capture 50% of the Windows PC market in 5 years, there's a long road ahead. pic.twitter.com/eyBRRODQqn

— PassMark Software (@PassMarkInc) July 15, 2024

According to benchmark submission reports at PassMark, the software witnessed a total of 22,056 instances, out of which 99.7% involved the x86 CPUs, such as those from AMD and Intel, while the rest of 0.3% went to ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite chips. ARM CPUs saw only 56 submissions, which is significantly lower compared to the competition out there, which shows that the Snapdragon X lineup is yet to make an impact on the markets despite the hype surrounding their release.

Well, the reason behind the under-representation here is quite certain. Firstly, the Snapdragon X Elite series, which is the mainstream ARM offering, is limited to top-tier laptops that come under the Microsoft Copilot+ certification. While they are capable enough, the pricing hasn't attracted a large portion of consumers at all, which means that the adoption rate isn't that high. Secondly, the Snapdragon X Elite SKUs debuted in the markets not so long ago; hence, when you compare it with x86, the difference is quite long, and this is reflected in the submission results as well.

Does this mean ARM's Windows venture is a failure? Well, certainly not, especially because many mid-tier laptops are in preparation featuring Snapdragon X Elite CPUs, making the statement inconclusive.

Apart from that, the AI PC hype is yet to kick off in the markets, and with the debut of AMD's Ryzen AI 300 and Intel's Lunar Lake CPUs, we'll have a more vivid idea of how ARM options stack up against x86, especially in AI performance. On that note, the new x86 CPUs from AMD & Intel will pose a major threat to Snapdragon X CPUs which despite getting Copilot+ PC certification later, will be able to offer some huge performance uplifts gen-over-gen. Furthermore, Snapdragon CPUs will be facing further competition in the future with the likes of NVIDIA who are also anticipated to join the AI PC race.