Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit underlined the risks of relying on partners

From my perspective, attending this year’s Snapdragon Tech Summit was all but mandatory for a journalist covering 5G: It offered the very first opportunity to go hands-on with low-band (600MHz) 5G, and the first looks at the chips that will power many of 2020’s most powerful 5G devices. Qualcomm revealed the Snapdragon XR2 5G, a chipset that will power standalone 5G VR and AR devices, as well as new Snapdragon chips for ultra-premium and midrange smartphones, plus entry-level and midrange Windows PCs.

I was genuinely impressed by all of the new offerings, as well as Qualcomm’s competitive undertone during the keynotes. By the end of the third day’s keynote, it was targeting laptop OEMs with more power-efficient, AI-capable chips than Intel, and willing to call its rival out on its still stunning inabilities to make 7-nanometer CPUs or consistently supply older-process parts to customers.