Mary Jo Foley
for All About Microsoft
| November 23, 2021
| Topic: Windows
Ever since Microsoft first unveiled its Windows on Arm strategy publicly in 2016, the only Arm chip supplier in the mix has been Qualcomm. According to a report by XDA Developers this week, that’s not coincidental; it’s because Microsoft and Qualcomm had a publicly-unacknowledged exclusivity deal. XDA says that exclusive contract will end “soon.” But will the potential to expand the suppliers of Arm chips for Windows PCs matter?
Many analysts have been assuming that because Apple is all-in on Arm, Microsoft will be someday. But Microsoft’s past — and some believe, future — is still basically an x64 one when it comes to PCs.
As Thurrott.com’s Paul Thurrott notes, it’s a much different landscape for Windows hardware now than it was in 2016. AMD is back and working with Microsoft on an Arm chipset; Intel is under new management.
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