During CES 2026, Qualcomm officially unveiled the Snapdragon X2 Plus series of PC processors, targeting the needs of the mainstream market. Facing Intel's upcoming Core Ultra Series 3 processors with its 18A process and codenamed Panther Lake, and AMD's continued offensive with its Ryzen series processors, Mandar Deshpande, Senior Director of Product Management at Qualcomm, remained confident in an interview. He emphasized that Qualcomm's core strategy for PC processors remains unchanged: to provide ultimate performance without sacrificing battery life, and to prepare for the upcoming era of "Agentic AI" through hardware upgrades.
Not worried about Intel's "counterattack"
Regarding Intel's announcement at CES 2026 that its 18A process Core Ultra Series 3 processor, codenamed Panther Lake, would be entering the market, Mandar Deshpande stated that he was not worried. He emphasized that Qualcomm's processors are more convincing in terms of energy efficiency and performance in real-world applications. He even reiterated that the data presented by competitors is often based on specific usage scenarios, but their processors show a significant difference in actual use.
Process advantages and an "uncompromising" design philosophy
Looking back, the first-generation Snapdragon X series processors used TSMC's 4nm process, which successfully set a benchmark in the Windows ecosystem. The current Snapdragon X2 series has successfully transitioned to TSMC's 3nm process. Mandar Deshpande points out that while the marketing figures for process nodes (such as 18A versus 3nm) are hotly debated in the industry, for Qualcomm, the focus remains on whether the process node can deliver optimal PPA (performance, power consumption, and area) at a "specific point in time."
TSMC's 3nm process technology is currently quite advanced in the industry, giving Qualcomm more confidence to continue its core design philosophy: "Never sacrifice battery life for performance, and never sacrifice performance for battery life." Through the optimization of the new process technology and processor architecture, Qualcomm is more confident in launching processor products that can compete with rivals such as Intel, and even demonstrate superior energy efficiency in real-world performance and battery life comparisons, while also allowing application devices to remain thin and light.
The true significance of an 80-tops NPU: Embracing proxy-based AI
In response to outside curiosity about why NPU computing power needs to be further increased to over 80 TOPS, Mandar Deshpande gave a clear trend judgment: the application scenarios of AI PCs are shifting from simple "audio-visual effects" processing to "agentic AI" capable of complex workflows.
In the past, AI might have only performed simple tasks such as blurring backgrounds or reducing video noise, but future AI agent services will need to run multiple models simultaneously, meaning that PC platforms will need more computing power to support them.
Mandar Deshpande gives an example: when a user wants their computer to proactively help organize emails, schedule events, and generate relevant summaries, it may involve the simultaneous operation of language models, visual models, and inference models. This not only tests the computing power of the NPU but also poses challenges to memory bandwidth and capacity. This is why high-end chips like the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme need to significantly improve their specifications—that is, to ensure that the system remains smooth and independent of the cloud when performing these multitasking AI agent tasks, thereby protecting privacy and ensuring low latency.
Mandar Deshpande goes a step further in describing the future of PC interaction: just as early mobile phone use was mainly based on button operation or screen touch, but later gradually shifted to interaction through assistant services on the phone via wake words such as "Hey, Google", currently PC operation is done by buttons, touchpad, and screen taps, and in the future it is expected to transform into "conversation" using natural language. Therefore, PCs must have the ability to understand the context of the conversation and proactively help solve problems.
On the other hand, Mandar Deshpande also believes that all interactions cannot be limited to PCs. Therefore, mobile phones and wearable devices that are closer to users will become more important. How to make these devices connect and collaborate more seamlessly, such as allowing users to issue commands through their mobile phones, which are then processed by the PC and the results are finally transmitted to the watch for display, is actually a strength of Qualcomm. Therefore, Qualcomm will have a greater competitive advantage in the future development of proxy AI.
Supply chain challenges and ecosystem expansion
In response to recent memory price fluctuations and supply chain uncertainties, Mandar Deshpande believes this is a challenge that the entire industry must face. Qualcomm's strategy is to "maximize compatibility," ensuring that the platform supports memory combinations of various densities and operating frequencies from different suppliers, and giving OEMs more flexibility in procurement and pricing.
Regarding concerns about potential price increases in PC products due to soaring memory prices, Mandar Deshpande believes that while component costs are rising, OEMs are currently finding ways to enhance the actual value of their products by providing better hardware specifications such as screens and enhanced AI experiences. This means that although the actual selling price of products increases due to rising memory prices, their actual value can still be improved by providing better design and user experience.
Qualcomm's goal is to offer a broad portfolio of products, from entry-level to top-of-the-line, with Snapdragon products available at every price point, ensuring that consumers can access AI PCs with long battery life and AI application capabilities across different budgets.
Competition makes the market healthier
On the other hand, regarding the possibility of NVIDIA and MediaTek joining the Arm-based PC market, Mandar Deshpande believes that "competition is a good thing," as it will force all manufacturers (including Qualcomm itself) to accelerate innovation. However, he also emphasized that Qualcomm has accumulated several generations of product experience in the Windows on Arm field and has a deep partnership with Microsoft. This maturity of hardware and software integration will be the biggest competitive advantage for the Snapdragon X2 series against both new and old rivals.
