Analysis: Qualcomm’s Commercial PC Push Is Primed For The Channel

With Qualcomm’s plan to introduce the Snapdragon Guardian out-of-band PC management technology early next year, the company has wasted no time getting channel partners ready for when it starts this big push into the commercial PC market against Intel and AMD.

When Qualcomm revealed its upcoming Snapdragon X2 Elite processors for Windows computers last week, the company made its biggest signal yet that it’s coming for Intel and AMD in the commercial PC market—a big moment it’s been preparing the channel for.

While specs like the 80 trillion operations per second of NPU performance commanded most headlines, there’s another silicon feature that will make this second generation of Qualcomm PC chips a more serious option for businesses when they debut next year.

The feature is called Snapdragon Guardian, and it’s an out-of-band PC management technology that is Qualcomm’s answer to Intel’s vPro platform, which enables advanced remote management and security features for commercial PCs.

The introduction of Snapdragon Guardian is critical for Qualcomm to grow in the commercial PC market because Intel has created the expectation by many businesses that vPro’s capabilities are crucial to managing PC fleets since the platform was introduced roughly 18 years ago. It’s important enough that AMD launched its competing Ryzen Pro platform the same year it debuted the first generation of Ryzen processors in 2017.

Greg King, vice president of vendor management at distribution powerhouse D&H Distributing, told CRN last Friday that Snapdragon Guardian is a “huge deal” when it comes to Qualcomm’s efforts to sell chips for commercial PCs.

“That’ll be a leapfrog for them, for sure,” he said.

How Qualcomm Is Positioning Snapdragon Guardian

In a blog post last Wednesday, Qualcomm said Snapdragon Guardian will be integrated in the upcoming Snapdragon X2 Elite processors to make it “easy for businesses to update, manage and secure PCs from virtually anywhere.”

By integrating silicon, software and cloud services, the feature will deliver “true out-of-band PC management” while “maintaining compatibility with existing IT management systems and providing [flexible] deployment options,” according to the company.

Qualcomm suggests it will have a competitive advantage in part because of the 5G cellular modem built into the Snapdragon X2 Elite processors. This contrasts with Intel and AMD processors, which do not have built-in modems, leaving OEMs to rely on external silicon from companies like MediaTek and Qualcomm for cellular connectivity.

The built-in cellular modem, combined with Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, “enables IT teams to [securely] manage devices in any location—even when those devices are offline, powered down or unbootable,” the company said. (Intel vPro and Ryzen Pro allow IT teams to remotely access offline, shut-off or unbootable PCs, but the lack of an integrated modem means that the ability to reach such devices via cellular networks depends on the OEM.)

With its cloud platform, Snapdragon Guardian provides IT teams with management features, including “location tracking, remote lock and wipe, remote remediation and even geofencing, which keeps sensitive data inside approved zones,” according to Qualcomm.

The company positions these features as critical for businesses because of the growing number of cyberattacks, data breaches and device thefts that can leave them vulnerable, especially with the growing number of connected PCs, in remote locations and elsewhere.

The availability of Snapdragon Guardian for commercial PCs will be limited when the Snapdragon X2 Elite processors launch early next year. That’s because the Snapdragon X2 Elite chips are designed for premium designs in the consumer and commercial PC markets with their high clock rates and core counts.

However, it’s reasonable to expect Qualcomm to expand the Snapdragon X2 lineup throughout next year with models for mid-range and low-end PC designs, as the company did with its first-generation Snapdragon X Series chips over the past year and a half.

This, in turn, will give businesses the option to buy Snapdragon Guardian-enabled PCs for a broader constituency of workers over time.

How Qualcomm Is Prepping Partners For Its Commercial PC Push

Qualcomm has wasted no time getting channel partners ready for when it starts this meaningful push into the commercial PC market next year.

As CRN reported last Friday, the chip designer has increased its roster of channel partners for selling Snapdragon PCs to more than 150 companies, according to Jeff Monday, the company’s departing vice president of global enterprise and channel sales.

The company told CRN earlier in the year that it had 100 commercial channel partners, which represented a major expansion over the 13 partners it started with at the launch of its commercial partner program last year.

Qualcomm also doubled its channel funding and quadrupled its global commercial channel team for Snapdragon X Series products this year.

In an interview with CRN published in May, Monday called Qualcomm’s commercial partner program “hyper competitive” against Intel and AMD, saying that his company’s CEO, Cristiano Amon, has made a “massive commitment” to the channel.

“Making sure that we had the breadth and depth to be able to properly engage and inspire our channel sales team and our channel sellers and channel partners, it’s super important for us, and we know that funding and head count go a long way towards that,” he said.

Partners have taken note of these investments, with Connection executive Camden Haley telling CRN back in May that he was already noticing a big impact from the new access he has to sales and technical people at Qualcomm for selling Snapdragon PCs.

“Not only do we have somebody who’s dedicated to our account and working with us on planning and executing, but [there are] other resources that we can call on,” said Haley, whose Merrimack, N.H.-based firm is No. 33 on CRN’s 2025 Solution Provider 500 list. “We can do co-selling motions, which we weren’t able to last year. We can do more of those technical proofs of concept [POCs] where a customer shows a lot of interest.”

Those kinds of investments will put Qualcomm in a better position to sell Snapdragon PCs to business customers, many of whom buy IT products through the channel.

While success is not guaranteed for Qualcomm, King, the executive at D&H Distributing, said the company is “doing all the right things” to get the channel ready, adding that it reminds him of AMD before the rival found its own success in commercial PCs.

“It reminds me a lot when AMD launched Ryzen back in [2017]. There’s a lot of heavy lifting you have to do,” he said.