Qualcomm says its push into Snapdragon-based Windows PCs has been given a "broader validation" by Apple's introduction of M1-based Macs. Both platforms are based around ARM technologies, the same as smartphones and iPad. 

Speaking during a roundtable event during its virtual Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm president Cristiano Amon welcomed Apple's move, but was careful about being too enthusiastic about what is, effectively a rival to his company's product.

Amon said that Qualcomm "invested early on Windows on Snapdragon and we've been on a journey to build this ecosystem together with Microsoft. And I think what we have seen in the past month is a broader validation that that was the right bet.

"And we're very excited about that. And I feel in general we only want to see an acceleration of that transition of the PC segment."

Alex Katouzian, the company's senior vice president of mobile, indicated that tightly-integrated platforms are clearly the future of the PC: "The theme of what we've been talking about for the past two or three years has been exactly the same as what Apple brought to the table.

"The fact that an integrated solution can bring functionality that is much needed in the PC in terms of upgradability of the camera, the quality of the audio, AI functionality to help multiple different functions that are existing in the PC. Long battery life, portability, connectivity, security - all of those aspects are what we've been pitching and what we've been promoting alongside with Microsoft as our partner have been validated.

"And I think, you know, the range of our products of good, better, best that we've also been pushing into the market and working with our OEM partners and our ecosystem partners to establish is going to get stronger and stronger as we move forward."

Of course, while Qualcomm and Apple are rivals in the PC space, Qualcomm provides the 5G modems for the iPhone 12 series.