At the recent Qualcomm Snapdragon X Series Architecture Deep Dive 2025 event held in San Diego, CA, David Naranjo, Associate Director at Counterpoint, had an in-depth discussion with Alberto Martinez, Vice President, Compute Software Strategy at Qualcomm. Martinez shared key updates on the accelerating momentum of the Snapdragon X Series and Qualcomm’s drive to lead the industry in PC performance, power efficiency, and platform innovation.

The Interview

Key Takeaways from the Discussion

Snapdragon X Series Momentum Strengthens Across OEMs

• Alberto highlighted the accelerating traction for the Snapdragon X Series, with expanding design wins across leading global PC OEMs.

• Enterprise interest is growing as organizations evaluate AI PC deployment at scale, driven by Qualcomm’s NPU performance and efficiency advantages.

On-device AI Leadership Remains Qualcomm’s Core Strategy

• Qualcomm is heavily focused on pushing the boundaries of on-device AI.

• It continues to enhance its high-TOPS NPU architecture, support larger and more complex LLMs, and optimize workflows for multimodal AI, all while maintaining compatibility across Windows, Android, and mobile AI development ecosystems.

Performance-Per-Watt is Qualcomm’s Differentiation

• While traditional PC competition centers on peak performance, Qualcomm reinforced that sustained performance at significantly lower power is where the Snapdragon X Series stands out.

• The evolving Oryon CPU architecture and ARM-native optimizations enable thinner, cooler, and quieter device designs.

Software Compatibility and Optimization are Top Priorities

• Martinez emphasized that Qualcomm is deeply invested in improving Windows on ARM app compatibility.

• Active collaboration with Microsoft, key ISVs accelerating native ARM64 app availability, are enhancing translation layers, and improving GPU and NPU resource scheduling.

The Platform Extends Beyond Silicon

• Qualcomm views the Snapdragon X Series as a full platform solution, integrating 5G/Wi-Fi connectivity, security, intelligent power management, audio, camera, and sensing pipelines – to differentiate from traditional x86 architectures.

Analyst Take

• Qualcomm’s strategic bet on NPUs is paying off, giving the Snapdragon X Series a clear advantage in AI-first workloads as the PC market enters an accelerated transition.

• Performance-per-watt leadership is shifting OEM design priorities, opening doors for more Snapdragon-based, thin-and-light AI PCs in both consumer and commercial segments.

• Software readiness remains the critical watchpoint, but Qualcomm’s growing collaboration with Microsoft and ISVs suggests the ARM software ecosystem will mature faster than in previous cycles.