With Qualcomm's entry to the client market, and the threat of other competitors joining, like MediaTek and even possible nVidia, the ability of AMD and Intel to capture rents from their x86 exclusivity must be quickly dropping. It has been happening for a while on the server market, with everyone building their own ARM chips. Fewer rents means less resources for R&D. Plus, all ARM license holders contribute to the development of the ISA and the standard core designs through their royalty payments. With a far larger volume of sales, it's not unlikely that ARM can outspend x86 on design R&D. It's even likely that in the future chip vendors collaborate as tightly upstream as it currently happens in the browser market, with everyone settling on Chromium.
How do Intel and AMD survive as x86 chip makers in this context? Long-term trends look very unfavorable to them.
How do Intel and AMD survive as x86 chip makers in this context? Long-term trends look very unfavorable to them.