“Snapdragon X Series and Snapdragon G Series processors are pushing the PC, desktop, and handheld gaming device industries forward. Our commitment remains strong, and we can’t wait to share more information about these areas,” reads part of a statement to The Verge via Qualcomm spokesperson Cassandra Garcia-Bacha.
Qualcomm didn’t say why plans have shifted, but it’s not hard to imagine that RAMageddon might have something to do with it. In Qualcomm’s February earnings call, president and CEO Cristiano Amon attributed a big dip in its chip business “100 percent” to the memory shortage, telling investors that the AI industry’s appetite for components would likely define the entire scale of the phone industry all year long.
In that same call, Qualcomm CFO Akash Palkhiwala testified that the company has already seen device manufacturers reduce how much they’re building. “We just wish there was more memory,” said Amon.
But the Windows gaming handheld delay could also have something to do with Microsoft, which has worked very closely with Qualcomm on previous Windows on Arm launches and tightly controls partner announcements. Microsoft just got a new gaming CEO, who is still figuring out her entire strategy for Xbox.
Either way, RAMagedddon is expected to get worse, not better, in the second half of the year. Today, IDC just forecast the largest drop ever recorded in worldwide smartphone shipments, a dip of 12.9 percent, across 2026. Samsung just announced new phones that start $100 pricier than last year for minor updates, and a Samsung exec told me today that’s partly due to RAM.
Whenever they arrive, there seems to be potential for Arm gaming devices running Windows titles. Valve has quietly been the architect of a push to bring Windows games to Arm, and the early results are promising.
