The capabilities of smartphones could soon rival laptops’ dominance, as industry leaders compete for supremacy in chip manufacturing.
AMD, Intel and Qualcomm have all been working on a technology to make Apple’s old M3 chip obsolete, while embracing AI, and increasing battery life.
Rumors claim that Nvidia may be pursuing a solution based on Arm. This was one of the reasons for its failed bid to purchase Arm, which is now public.
RISC V is on the horizon, but it is not a serious threat to PCs.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT adds another twist to this story by exploring the development of neural processing units (NPUs) that would replace GPUs in high-performance language models such as generative artificial intelligence and the like.
This activity will mainly take place late in 2024. There will likely be a fierce battle. But, in the background, companies are realizing that smartphones may eventually replace laptops.
Qualcomm and Lenovo would be the winners in 2024 if they were to win. Apple will not allow this to happen because it wants customers to buy both its products.
This week we will discuss the laptop chip battles of 2024. We’ll also close out with the Product of the Week: a high-end 4K touchscreen graphics monitor.
Laying Out The Battlefield
Intel has made a remarkable recovery from the mistakes it made in the last decade. Intel is a well-established vendor. It only needs to be good enough.
The challenger vendors have to convince their potential customers that Intel doesn’t meet the standard. This is an incredibly high bar. Intel’s defence will rely heavily on its Lunar Lake component, which on paper is as powerful as AMD and as efficient Qualcomm.
Intel, however, has many distractions. Intel faces more distractions that its peers due to the ongoing war in Israel and the location of one Intel’s major FABs. As of yet, I haven’t seen any problems, but if OEMs start to experience them, they will hedge with another company.
AMD
AMD has excelled in execution.
The company is gaining market share and performing well because it is focusing on PCs. AMD’s Ryzen 8800 processors with Zen 5 will likely outperform Intel Lunar Lake. However, Intel must only be good enough for buyers to switch to AMD.
AMD’s existing customers will remain loyal to the company. However, for AMD to grow the market, the bar is set very high. Intel would have to create a part that was highly competitive and launch a large advertising campaign in order for people to be less satisfied. AMD doesn’t usually fund these campaigns, which makes it unlikely that AMD will overtake Intel despite its parts outperforming Intel’s.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X elite is a powerful new processor. But it’s not x86-based. Instead, it’s Arm based. This architecture requires the processor to run an x86 emulation, which can lower the perception of performance. This requirement requires a much greater leap of faith than AMD does.
Although the numbers on paper for battery life and AI performance are impressive, it may not be sufficient to penetrate a current market dominated x86.
Microsoft loves Qualcomm’s technology and is providing a lot unusual support. But Microsoft’s newest showcase laptop, Surface Studio 2 is Intel-based. Qualcomm is more reliant on Microsoft that AMD. The success of the part will depend heavily on Microsoft’s help and Qualcomm’s promotion.
Marketing is a problem for Qualcomm. It relies heavily on OEMs. This works fine for smartphones.
Qualcomm’s chances would be better if it adopted a more aggressive strategy and targeted smartphones. Qualcomm’s PC competitors do not have smartphones.
If they do, Qualcomm will be the best-positioned to benefit. Qualcomm would benefit most from this, since it’s strengths are better suited to counter the weaknesses of its competitors than vice versa.
Nvidia
Nvidia’s Arm-based CPU is still a mystery.
Nvidia’s relationships with PC OEMs, and its leadership in AI gives it an advantage in the market.
Nvidia, which has consistently outperformed its peers and anticipated market trends before their peers, has become a force over the past decade. It uses AI more internally than most of its rivals, which suggests it could develop a new approach to find a blend between traditional performance and AI excellence.
I expect Nvidia will surprise the market. The size of the surprise is yet to be determined.
Wrapping up
Intel will continue to dominate the market and be entrenched in its position.
This new AI wave, however, is far from settled. It offers paths of displacement that were never before possible. AI is a big disruptor. Nvidia currently is the leader in AI while Microsoft is the aggressive marketer.
A market pivot like the iPod could be possible if an innovative company can find a way to package technologies, such as head mounted displays and voice interfaces that are better. Apple is unlikely to want to do this as it wants to sell both smartphones and PCs. However, it could integrate the two more closely, possibly achieving the same result.
All this means that 2024 is going to be an interesting year. We may look at laptops and desktop PCs very differently by the time it’s over.
Wacom Cintiq Pro 17
My mother was an amazing artist, but she mainly focused on advertising campaigns. If I were to buy her a Christmas present, it would most likely be the Wacom Cintiq Pro 17The new version of, released just recently.
This 4K screen, with its extreme color accuracy, is the perfect digital tool for artists and engineers that need to draw with precision and high color accuracy.
Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 Ultra HD/4K display with its Pro Pen 3 and (Image credit: Wacom).
Wacom’s trademark three-programable buttons stylus is active, doesn’t require a power source, and uses the firm’s wireless data and power solution.
The display is available with a stand, but it can also be carried around. For this, the 17-inch display is perfect.
Wacom produces this high-quality product in a variety of sizes. However, the 17-inch offers the best combination of portability, functionality and price.
Wacom Cintiq is my Product of The Week. It is the perfect product for anyone who loves to create beautiful and accurate art. My mother would have loved this for Christmas.