Qualcomm has ambitions, and that’s a good thing, according to Lenovo’s Danny Amelryckx, who has followed the PC industry from the beginning and believes the entry of a third CPU player will be a good thing for everyone.

“What would the world have been like if IBM had believed in the PC in the 1980s,” ponders Danny Amelryckx, Client Solution Technologist at Lenovo. He was already there. Amelryckx’s career in the PC world begins in the days of punch cards and ends with a well-deserved retirement in the autumn. Such a track record gives a person perspective, so ITdaily sits down with Lenovo’s Benelux computer expert for the last time.

Turning point

Amelryckx is saying goodbye to a world that is in flux professionally. “Qualcomm will shake up the IT world and certainly CPU manufacturers,” he predicts. “In fact, during the entire existence of Windows, there have only been two main suppliers of processors: Intel and AMD. Intel turned out to be the biggest player, while AMD has apparently been turning to more consumer devices for a long time. That changed seven years ago with the arrival of Ryzen, and Covid also gave Intel’s competitor a boost.”

Qualcomm will shake up the IT world and certainly the CPU manufacturers

Danny Amelryckx, Client Solution Technologist Lenovo

However, Intel became the most important technology leader. Intel Inside became the norm. Even after AMD’s comeback on the business laptop market, Intel remained by far the largest. “If you’re the market leader, you sometimes forget to look around,” says Amelryckx. “But the world is changing.”

In his opinion, we are now at such a turning point. “Qualcomm has ambitious plans and wants to become the third largest manufacturer of CPUs for Windows in the world. The company has a good track record and has gained a lot of experience with ARM in smartphones.”

RISC, CISC and one processor for all

Amelryckx believes that experience is relevant. After all, Qualcomm’s ARM CPUs are not entirely new inventions. They are based on a RISC architecture that emerged around the same time as the CISC foundations of x86. We’ve already explained the difference between CISC and RISC in detail, but the gist is simple: RISC (and thus ARM) is generally designed for slightly simpler instructions, but is more economical. CISC (x86) can handle more complex instructions, but generally consumes more.

It is not illogical that the Windows PC developed from a CISC architecture. Amelryckx: “In the first PCs, energy efficiency was not so important, but computing power was. Over the years, however, everything has evolved. Efficiency has become more important, and Intel and AMD have also made their x86 chips more efficient.” But when it comes to performance per watt, ARM has advantages that Qualcomm can cleverly exploit.

New options in a niche

Amelryckx stresses that there is no one overarching architecture for everything. “As a manufacturer, it is important to offer a choice. Lenovo was one of the first manufacturers to work with Qualcomm on the development of laptops. The advantages of these devices are obvious: they are thinner and have good autonomy. The performance is also up to standard. There is also a disadvantage in terms of compatibility.”

According to Amelryckx, Qualcomm now offers components for laptops aimed at a selection of customers. The current range of processors allows PC manufacturers to build lightweight and mobile laptops with high performance per watt and high autonomy. However, not everyone buys a laptop with a focus on mobility.

“We see that the Qualcomm Snapdragon He suspects that the chip designer has ambitions, but that Qualcomm is primarily attacking a segment of the CPU market for the time being.

Responsibilities and opportunities

For a PC manufacturer like Lenovo, a third player brings additional responsibility, but above all additional opportunities. “We have to offer the same opportunities for Qualcomm PCs as for computers with Intel and AMD on board,” Amelryckx clarifies. “Think of drivers and management and rollout options. That in itself is not a big problem.”

We need to provide Qualcomm PCs with the same features as Intel and AMD computers

Danny Amelryckx, Client Solution Technologist Lenovo

More important for Lenovo is the additional choice that the manufacturer can offer end customers thanks to the new chips from Qualcomm. Efficiency appeals to a certain audience and Lenovo can build more economical, lighter and thinner laptops with the Snapdragon X chips.

Each chip has its advantages and Lenovo wants to offer all options. “You can see that we now have devices with AMD in almost our entire range alongside those from Intel,” explains Amelryckx. “The possibilities there are very large. For Qualcomm, we have two devices in the business segment and one for the consumer market. The chips fit the T and X series and meet the expectations of certain users.”

Please be patient

“There isn’t an ARM PC for everyone yet,” he continues. “For example, an engineer developing a new engine will have to buy a device from Intel or AMD. This is not illogical: Qualcomm is investing hugely, but it will be several years before we see the company’s chips across its entire portfolio.” When they appear, Lenovo will reintegrate them into its portfolio alongside Intel and AMD, once again giving the end user the choice.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm’s move is already having an impact. “Intel may have been sitting on a chair,” he notes. “But now everyone has to innovate faster.” The results are visible: Intel launched Core Ultra 200V: a series of chips specifically designed to challenge the efficiency advantages of the ARM architecture. “I think the emergence of a third player will only bring benefits to the IT market,” concludes Amelryckx. In any case, Lenovo plans to translate the possibilities of the CPU market into laptops for its customers. And Amelryckx, he will continue to watch the outcome of this revolution from the sidelines.