Artificial Intelligence desktop competition: Leading contenders and potential consequences
The technology landscape is about to change with the advent of AI PCs, as major players in the industry collaborate to bring this revolution to life.
MediaTek and Nvidia have joined forces to develop chips for notebook computers using Arm architecture. This collaboration is a significant step towards the widespread adoption of Arm-based PC chips, a shift that Qualcomm's Amon expects to accelerate with the adoption of Microsoft's AI platform, Copilot+.
Microsoft is also actively involved in this transformation, working with Qualcomm on a big launch of new AI PCs. These devices could potentially challenge Intel's market dominance, as they offer features and applications previously only available by connecting to a cloud service, such as simultaneous translation, real-time meeting transcription, and conversational AI assistants.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chip, praised for its energy efficiency and good battery life, will be used in laptops from HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, and Microsoft, set to hit the market this month. These laptops will be the first commercially available to meet Microsoft's definition of an AI PC, with more than 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of processing power.
AMD is also jumping on the bandwagon, unveiling the Ryzen AI 300 series chipset, which can run 50 TOPS. Notebook computers with these chips will be available from July. Besides Intel and AMD, companies like Acer and MSI are releasing AI-optimized notebooks in the upcoming months, with availability expected in 2025. Dell Technologies is also launching AI-optimized systems for data environments in the second half of 2025.
The success of AI PCs, however, will depend on consumers finding the new features appealing, regardless of whether they are running on Arm- or X-86 platforms. The AI PC era is just beginning, according to tech analyst Jeff Lin, with generative AI being only a part of the AI PC ecosystem. The user interface and user interactions with PCs could be massively transformed, but it will take time, till about 2028, for the AI ecosystems and AI assistants' new user interface on PCs to evolve and become mainstream.
Industry experts are optimistic about the future of AI PCs. William Li, senior tech analyst with Counterpoint, predicts Arm-based notebook PCs will account for up to 15% of the market this year and up to 20% by 2027. Arm CEO Rene Haas predicts "Windows on Arm" PCs will have a dominant market share in the next decade. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger expects 80% of all PCs to be AI PCs by 2028.
Lisa Su, AMD's CEO, states that the AI PC revolution is the "biggest change" in the PC form factor in the last decade. The AI PC revolution has implications for the structure of the PC chip industry, as Arm-based processors, known for energy efficiency, could soon be both powerful and energy-efficient.
The AI PC era is just beginning, and it promises to bring significant changes to the PC industry. As more companies join the bandwagon and consumers embrace the new technology, we can expect to see a shift in the market share and a transformation in the way we interact with our PCs.
