Qualcomm Inc. plans to develop a system-on-chip for Windows computers that will be capable of matching the performance offered by Apple Inc.’s Mac processors. 

The company detailed the initiative during its 2021 Investor Day event today, The Verge reported. Qualcomm Chief Technology Officer James Thompson said during the event that Qualcomm intends to introduce the system-on-chip in 2023. The executive also shared a number of details about the development roadmap for the processor.

The system-on-chip is set to be based on an Arm Ltd. architecture, similarly to many of Qualcomm’s existing products. Publicly traded Qualcomm is best known as a supplier of chips for mobile devices: Its Snapdragon systems-on-chip power a sizable portion of the world’s Android smartphones.

Qualcomm is also a top maker of the modem chips that handsets use to connect to wireless networks. The company’s modems can be found not only in Android handsets but also the latest iPhones.

Building a system-on-chip for Windows machines involves a much different set of technical requirements than designing a smartphone processor. However, Qualcomm’s expertise in mobile chip development could nonetheless prove valuable for the project. 

The company will also benefit from the technology assets that it acquired through the $1.4 billion acquisition of chip startup Nuvia Inc. earlier this year. Qualcomm has reportedly tasked the Nuvia team with designing its planned system-on-chip for Windows machines. 

Nuvia was a venture-backed semiconductor startup that had raised $293 million in funding prior to its acquisition by Qualcomm. The startup’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Gerard Williams III headed Apple’s central processing unit architecture team for nearly a decade. Nuvia was developing an energy-efficient central processing unit for servers before the acquisition. 

According to The Verge, Qualcomm executives detailed today that the company hopes its upcoming system-on-chip will be fast enough to “go head to head with Apple’s M-series processors.” The M-series processors are the chips that power the iPhone maker’s Mac product line. Qualcomm is also aiming to achieve an edge in “sustained performance and battery life,” areas where Apple’s Mac processors have also demonstrated strong capabilities compared with competing chips.

Taking on the iPhone maker will represent a major technical challenge for Qualcomm. The first M-series chip, the M1, was described by Apple at the time of its launch as being capable of providing twice the CPU performance of a comparable Intel Corp. processor. Apple has since introduced a newer Mac chip called the M1 Max that has 3.5 times as many transistors as its predecessor. 

Both Apple’s M series chips and the planned processor from Qualcomm are based on a system-on-chip architecture. A system-on-chip is a processor that includes several different types of computing modules. The M1 Max in the newest MacBook Pros, for example, combines a central processing unit with a number of more specialized components, including a graphics processing unit and an artificial intelligence accelerator.

Qualcomm’s planned introduction of a system-on-chip for Windows machines could create yet more competition for Intel, the market leader in this segment. At the same time, Intel could play a key role in Qualcomm’s long-term chip development plans.

Earlier this year, Qualcomm announced a partnership with Intel to make chips using the latter company’s Intel 20A manufacturing process. The 20A process is set to become operational in 2024, the year after Qualcomm expects to introduce its system-on-chip for Windows machines. It’s unclear what processors Intel will make for Qualcomm as part of the partnership.

The plan to develop chips for Windows computers is part of a broader effort by Qualcomm to expand beyond the smartphone market. As part of this effort, the company has also been working to grow its presence in the auto sector and a number of other areas.

Qualcomm said today that it expects its “addressable opportunity” to grow from approximately $100 billion today to $700 billion over the next decade. The company expects that its auto sector revenues will grow to about $3.5 billion in five years and $8 billion in 10 years. Qualcomm’s “internet of things” unit, meanwhile, is expected to become a $9 billion business by 2024.

Photo: Qualcomm