Qualcomm aims Snapdragon C laptop chip at the budget laptop segment, as manufacturers feel the DRAM squeeze — analysts warn sub $500 laptop market may disappear before 2028
Qualcomm has introduced its new Snapdragon C Platform, an entry-level Arm processor designed for Windows 11 laptops starting at $300. This chip utilizes older Kryo cores from Qualcomm's smartphone designs and supports as little as 8GB of memory, differentiating it from the higher-end Snapdragon X family and excluding it from Microsoft's Copilot+ PC requirements. Concurrently, industry analysts from firms like Gartner and IDC are forecasting the potential disappearance of the sub-$500 laptop market by 2028 due to significant increases in DRAM and SSD prices, which are making budget-friendly devices financially unviable for manufacturers. AI
IMPACT Qualcomm's budget chip may enable lower-cost AI PCs, but rising component costs threaten the viability of the sub-$500 laptop market.