Snapdragon X Elite Dev Kit mini PC dies silent death as Qualcomm cancels software support, refunds all outstanding preorders

Qualcomm has seemingly faced some issues throughout the launch of its Snapdragon X Elite Dev Kit, and, as of today, the ARM-powered mini PC appears to be off the table — or the desk, as it were. Qualcomm issued a statement to Snapdragon X Elite Dev Kit owners and pre-order holders via email, confirming the diminutive desktop's early demise.

Most concerning, however, is that the few Snapdragon Dev Kit owners that have received their units won't get any software support going forward. This is confirmed by Jeff Geerling, one of the few Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite owners who actually received their hardware. At this point, it's unclear if Qualcomm will also refund those who have already received their hardware. 

The cancellation email from Qualcomm reads: 

"At Qualcomm, we are dedicated to pioneering leading technology and delivering premium experiences to our valued customers. ​ The launch of 30+ Snapdragon X-series powered PC's is a testament to our ability to deliver leading technology and the PC industry's desire to move to our next-generation technology. However, the Developer Kit product comprehensively has not met our usual standards of excellence and so we are reaching out to let you know that unfortunately we have made the decision to pause this product and the support of it, indefinitely. ​

Working with the developer community is a priority for Qualcomm.​   If you want to learn more about Windows on Snapdragon, please engage with us on Discord or head to our developer portal on Qualcomm.com. If you are ready to build your next gen AI PC application, visit the Qualcomm Device Cloud (QDC) today."

While Qualcomm has cancelled its own ARM-powered desktop, Qualcomm has repeatedly confirmed that other manufacturers will soon launch Windows-on-ARM desktop computers in the coming months. We recently reported on a set of benchmarks of the Snapdragon X Elite in the Qualcomm Dev Kit, and it actually delivered impressive results on par with Apple's M3 Pro SoC. Given that performance clearly wasn't the problem, it might be that production costs were simply too high, or the same problems that resulted in the delayed shipments of the Snapdragon X Elite Dev Kit were ultimately too severe for Qualcomm to meaningfully address. 

As far as we know, the issues relating to the Snapdragon X Elite Dev Kit aren't severe enough to warrant a recall, suggesting that the mini PC was pulled from the market as a business decision. 

If you're after a mini PC, check out the Beelink SER8 mini PC that we previously reviewed, powered by AMD's Ryzen 7 8845HS (curr. $749 on Amazon).