[News] Server Chips: The Next Battlefield for Qualcomm and Arm?

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The chip industry has been buzzing lately, as the main characters in the Qualcomm-ARM lawsuit have both made surprising moves. What’s in common, notably, would be their mutual interests in data centers. Moreover, they are not the only ones thinking about developing their own server chips.

Qualcomm: Data Center Solutions to Launch Soon?

Qualcomm, known for its flagship smartphone processors, has shown its ambition in the data center market. Unexpectedly, the smartphone chip leader has hired Intel’s former Xeon chief architect, Sailesh Kottapalli, to lead the charge, as noted by Wccftech.

The report notes that Qualcomm plans to expand beyond its successful Snapdragon X Elite SoCs and develop server CPUs using ARM architecture based on Nuvia cores, aiming to challenge x86’s market dominance. In addition to that, as per Tom’s Hardware, Qualcomm is building a team to develop server processors for data centers, as shown by a job posting on its website.

Interestingly enough, the Tom’s Hardware report notes that Qualcomm previously developed and sold Arm-based data center CPUs without much success. As it is trying to build a team of SoC developers, it would be reasonable to expect the company to create a data center solution within the next few years, the report adds.

ARM’s Ambition

Meanwhile, a Reuters report reveals that in the recent trial where Arm failed to secure higher royalty rates from Qualcomm, Arm executives discussed the possibility of creating their own complete chip designs, as per trial testimony and documents.

The Reuters report highlights Arm’s ambition in data centers, noting that after SoftBank acquired Arm in 2016, the British firm’s architecture expanded from smartphones to making significant inroads in PCs and data centers.

Aligning with Arm’s interests in data centers, a Bloomberg report indicated that Oracle-backed Ampere, which designs server chips for some of the biggest names in the cloud market, is considering a takeover offer from Arm while exploring other strategic options.

More Rivals on the Road

According to the latest research from TrendForce, looking ahead to 2025, the value of the AI server segment is expected to rise to US$298 billion from US$205 billion in 2024, due to persistently high demand and a higher ASP for this product category. Additionally, AI servers are forecasted to account for over 70% of the total value of the entire server industry in 2025.

Targeting the market’s growth momentum in the next few years, more “non-traditional” players have attempted to enter the battle field. For instance, Taiwanese chip leader MediaTek, in addition to its collaboration with NVIDIA on the GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip used in Project DIGITS, is also eyeing the sector.

According to an earlier report from Wccftech, citing the Economic Daily News, the company might be developing its own AI server chips featuring the Arm architecture, which are expected to be built with TSMC’s 3nm node.

Read more

• [News] Apple Reportedly Set to Launch Self-Made Modem Chip, Challenging Qualcomm
• [News] Qualcomm Wins Legal Battle Against Arm Over Chip Design License Dispute

(Photo credit: Qualcomm)