More and more semiconductor makers are challenging Intel Corp. in the server market. Qualcomm Technologies Inc., which is best known for its mobile chips, moved to the head of the pack today after introducing a new 48-core data center processor.

The chip ups the industry ante on computational density. Referred to as the Centriq 2400, it’s based on a cutting-edge design from ARM Holdings plc that places transistors only 10 nanometers apart, the equivalent of a meter divided by a hundred million. The company claims that the resulting space efficiency enables its system to compete with Intel’s market-leading Xeon CPUs on performance while using less power.

Qualcomm hasn’t divulged any other technical information about the Centriq 2400, but its launch announcement did say that sample units are already being shipped to “key prospective customers.” The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is courting web giants such Facebook inc. and Alphabet Inc. which have historically been among the first to adopt new processor technologies.

Today’s news shows that Qualcomm is sticking to the delivery timeline that it outlined for its 10-nanometer chips last year, said Gina Longoria of Moor Insights & Strategy, She sees the company’s punctuality as a sign that its management team is serious about entering the data center market even as shrinking transistors becomes increasingly difficult. More important, the firm’s rapid work schedule now puts it ahead of Intel.

The chip giant’s Xeon processors are the gold standard for performance in the server market but the current iteration of the series is based on a 14-nanometer architecture that lags behind on transistor density. Intel won’t start shipping its next generation 10-nanometer chips to server makers until 2018, while Qualcomm expects to do so with the Centriq 2400 in the second half of next year.

Yet Qualcomm can still expect an uphill battle thanks to Intel’s overwhelming market share. An International Data Corp. study estimates that the chip giant accounted for appropriately 99 percent of server chip shipments in the first three quarter of 2016.  Plus, Qualcomm will also have to face off against fellow Intel contenders such as AMD Inc. and IBM Corp. that are developing their own rivaling products.

Big Blue recently unveiled a new server based on its homegrown POWER8 processors that can provide up to 80 percent more performance per dollar than a comparable Intel system. The S822LC for HPC, as it’s called, is specifically designed to run sophisticated artificial intelligence and scientific workloads. Several units have already been ordered by the European Commission-backed Human Brain Project to speed up its neuroscience research. 

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