2024 may be the most important year in recent history for Windows computers. With the arrival of the new Surfaces based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Elite X processors, the ARM architecture has the potential to compete against x86 processors from Intel and AMD. But ironically, its biggest obstacle now is ARM itself.
Like the Snapdragon processors for mobile phones, the new Snapdragon Elite based on ARM architecture; Although this is not the first time that something similar has been attempted, it is now that it has more chances to succeed. The new processors already promise to be as powerful as the best, and the Copilot+ PC platform takes advantage of their AI potential.
The ‘small’ drawback is that these laptops may never reach stores, or worse, be destroyed by court order. And all, due to a controversial fight between ARM and Qualcomm over licenses that may end up affecting these products.
Manufacturers that use the ARM architecture in their processors, such as Qualcomm, MediaTek or Apple, have the obligation to pay for a license to the company Arm Holdings, which owns all the core designs used in these chips. The Snapdragon Elite X are no exception, but Arm Holdings decided to revoke its license and sue Qualcomm; not only to stop using those designs, but also to force you to destroy all the units already manufactured.
To request such measures, Arm Holdings accuses Qualcomm of taking advantage of a loophole to use designs for which it did not have a license. It all started in 2021, when Qualcomm bought the Nuvia chip brand, founded by former Apple engineers.
The purchase of Nuvia by Qualcomm is the origin of the controversy
Prior to the acquisition, Nuvia had acquired an ARM license to create server processors; but when the purchase was completed, Qualcomm reassigned these employees to a new project to create a processor for laptopswhich ended up being the Snapdragon
Arm Holdings believes the design of the Snapdragon X Elite is a “direct descendant” of the design Nuvia was working on before the acquisition; However, it claims that the license it granted to Nuvia was terminated as a result of the purchase and therefore Qualcomm does not have a valid license for these processors. For its part, Qualcomm’s defense focuses on the fact that it already has a “general license” to create PC processors that covers these designs.
Microsoft might have to destroy its new Surfaces
Microsoft
Omicrono
A legal victory for Arm Holdings would directly affect Microsoft and the more than 20 brands that have already announced laptops based on Snapdragon X Elite processors, since they would not be able to reach the market. The demand explicitly calls for the destruction of units already manufacturedand that would mean disassembling or directly destroying the laptops that are already in warehouses ready for the launch of Copilot+ PC this summer.
Arm Holdings claims it filed the lawsuit “to protect the ARM ecosystem and its allies”; but it’s easy to see that a legal victory could be pyrrhic for ARM. It’s the first time that ARM processors are so attractive to users than ‘traditional’ x86; and if they miss this opportunity, they may not get another one, once Intel and AMD catch up to them in performance and power efficiency.
