Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite will eventually be found in nearly every Windows laptop model by a range of manufacturers, and MediaTek wants to tap into this category soon. Already proving its capabilities by taking the fight to its chipset rival in the Android flagship smartphone space, a new report states that Qualcomm may have another competitor to deal with besides Apple.
The first MediaTek SoC for Windows laptops is said to arrive late next year, as Qualcomm’s exclusivity deal will expire; NVIDIA may partner with the Taiwanese firm
While an exact launch timeline was not given, Reuters reports that MediaTek is preparing a Snapdragon X Elite competitor for late 2025. As for why the company is taking so long to enter this market, previously published information states that Qualcomm’s exclusivity deal to supply its SoCs for PCs may end this year, which will give MediaTek the opportunity to penetrate this category. We have reported that both the Taiwanese fabless semiconductor manufacturer and NVIDIA are said to be co-developing a Snapdragon X Elite competitor and may leverage TSMC’s 3nm process to make this possible.
Additionally, both companies are engaged in making chipsets for handhelds and portable consoles, with the possibility of MediaTek and NVIDIA switching to TSMC’s CoWoS packaging in the future. However, the latest report mentions that these solutions will be entirely separate from the Snapdragon X Elite competitor, hinting that MediaTek has no partnerships tied to its own efforts. For those doubting the SoC maker’s capabilities, perhaps a few years ago, industry watchers would have downplayed MediaTek’s ambitions, but at this time, that might not be the case.
We say this because, in Q1 2024, MediaTek held first place for the highest smartphone chipset shipments, meaning that it could appease Qualcomm’s current partners by offering them a capable solution that is potentially cheaper than the Snapdragon X Elite while delivering the same performance and efficiency metrics. Unfortunately, it is too early to tell at this stage because no information regarding the unnamed silicon’s prowess was mentioned in the report, so we will have to play the waiting game for now.
News Source: Reuters
