Qualcomm completes NUVIA acquisition, will release high-performance ultrabook processors in 2022

Back in January this year, Qualcomm was announcing the acquisition of the NUVIA startup, adding a world-class CPU and technology design team to help develop its next gen mobile processors. On March 16, Qualcomm revealed that the NUVIA acquisition has been completed for $1.4 billion and also presented a small preview for all the technologies scheduled to launch in 2022.

NUVIA’s CPU technology will be integrated across Qualcomm’s portfolio of upcoming products, including “flagship smartphones, laptops, and digital cockpits, as well as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, extended reality, and infrastructure networking solutions.” Qualcomm is also planning to consolidate its position in the ARM-powered laptop sector as “the first Snapdragon platforms to feature Qualcomm Technologies’ new internally designed CPUs are expected to sample in the second half of 2022 and will be designed for high performance ultraportable laptops.”

“We are excited to join the leading wireless innovator in the industry, driven by a common mission of inventing breakthrough technologies. Together, we will create a new class of high-performance computing platforms that set the bar for the industry,” said Gerard Williams former CEO of NUVIA, who now is SVP of Engineering at Qualcomm Technologies.

Qualcomm is not the only company developing in-house laptop processors. Apple already launched its M1 chips, which received some praises, and the Cupertino giant is expected to release new M generations each year. Other companies like Samsung, Huawei and Microsoft are also working on their own implementations for Windows-on-ARM laptops. Qualcomm no doubt will have its work cut out in order to match the power of all these competing technologies.