Qualcomm cancels Snapdragon Dev Kit, refunds all orders

Windows on ARM and Dev Kit Cancellation

• Many see the Snapdragon Dev Kit failure as another false start for “Windows on ARM,” likened to the perennial “year of the Linux desktop.”
• Commenters note repeated Microsoft/ARM pushes (Nvidia era, prior Qualcomm efforts) that never achieve critical mass.
• Several say Windows developers won’t seriously target ARM until Microsoft and OEMs provide a stable, decade-long platform with strong backward compatibility.
• Others argue there’s simply no compelling reason today: modern x86 laptops are fast, efficient enough, and dominant.

Linux Demand vs. Qualcomm’s Focus

• Nearly everyone interested in the dev kit in this thread wanted it for Linux, not Windows.
• Qualcomm is criticized for prioritizing Windows marketing while delivering weak or unfinished Linux support, despite earlier demos.
• Some attribute this to a legacy Android model: forked kernels, rushed platform code, and little incentive to maintain old hardware.

Technical and Ecosystem Challenges on ARM

• ARM PCs suffer from fragmented boot and hardware descriptions (device trees, vendor kernels, board-specific images).
• Standards like ARM SystemReady, UEFI, and ACPI exist but are rarely implemented on affordable hardware.
• Debate over device trees vs ACPI: some say DTs are a necessary compromise and clearer when wrong; others see the whole situation as unacceptable compared to x86 “plug and play.”

Apple, x86, and Competing Architectures

• Multiple comments stress that Apple’s success is less about “ARM” and more about vertically integrated hardware/software and good power management.
• Debate over whether the ISA (ARM vs x86) meaningfully affects power/performance; consensus leans toward design and implementation mattering more.
• Intel’s upcoming low-power chips and AMD’s efficiency improvements are seen as undercutting ARM’s advantage on Windows.
• Some propose skipping ARM and going straight to RISC-V; others note hyperscaler success with ARM (Ampere) shows the ISA itself isn’t the core problem.

Quality, Legal, and Business Factors

• Reports of the dev kit’s poor hardware/firmware (broken HDMI encoder, missing FCC certification, unusable restore images) fuel the sense of a “shitshow.”
• Thundercomm’s role as partner is criticized for failing at basic Windows functionality.
• Legal disputes between ARM and Qualcomm are mentioned but generally viewed as separate from this specific cancellation.