‘Qualcomm is pushing power management chips on OEMs wanting to buy Oryon SoCs’

Computer manufacturers who want to purchase the upcoming Qualcomm Oryon Socs will be required to use Qualcomm’s power management chips. This is stated by tech website SemiAccurate. This decision would increase the costs for the new Arm-soc.

The editors of SemiAccurate were able to speak to several sources who believe that Qualcomm’s mobile energy management chips, or power management integrated circuits, for the Oryon SoC have not yet been adapted for laptops or desktops. These chips could be modified, but the changes would be far-reaching and this would cause the total price of the Oryon SoC to increase considerably.

According to SemiAccurate the various OEMs are not satisfied with this obligation from Qualcomm. In theory, it is possible to purchase cheaper and compatible power management chips elsewhere, but Qualcomm has reportedly made that impossible by making its own power management chips proprietary. According to SemiAccurate, the company wants to compensate the OEMs financially.

The Oryon is an Arm SoC from Qualcomm that was designed by Nuvia. Qualcomm acquired the start-up Nuvia in early 2021. That company was founded by prominent chip designers who, among others, worked at Apple on its Arm Socs. Qualcomm paid $1.4 billion for the acquisition and wants to use the new Arm chips in mobile phones, cars and data centers. Qualcomm already has Arm chips in its portfolio, but the company has had relatively little success with them in the PC market. In 2021, Qualcomm stated that the first laptops with a Nuvia chip will appear in 2023.

Update, 10 a.m.: Title has been changed. It used to be: ‘Qualcomm obliges OEMs to use their own energy management chips’.

2021 Qualcomm presentation on upcoming Arm socks