Qualcomm 10nm server processor release date news 2016: Launch catches Intel off guard

Qualcomm's release of the "world's first" 10nm server processor has just put the company at the center of what is considered to be an Intel-run market of PCs and data centers.

The American telecommunications equipment company, which previously focuses on the mobile market, has now branched out on Intel's home turf making it an interesting time for both companies. Being the first in the Centriq release from the lineup that Qualcomm is said to be quietly working on for the past four years, the Centriq 2400 processors are 10nm server processors with 48 cores built on Qualcomm's own custom central processing unit (CPU) architecture.

"The Qualcomm Centriq 2400 series processors will drive high performance, power-efficient ARM-based servers from concept to reality," senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm Datacenter Technologies, Anand Chandrasekher said, as quoted by The Inquirer. "We are first in 10nm IC technology for mobile, and leveraging our expertise in ARM processors and system on chip design, we are the first with our Qualcomm Centriq family of server processors to bring the leading edge to the data centre."

Intel's own take on such 10 nm chips is supposedly still in deep development with no word about its release as of yet. Rumor has it that Intel's incantation is not going to see the light of day until late 2017, which gives Qualcomm roughly a year to push through with Centriq 2400 and build a reputation for itself.

What is more fascinating is that for years Intel has tried to break through the mobile market, Qualcomm's territory, in which the latter had boomed with a speedy turnaround for smartphones and other devices. Unfortunately, Intel's efforts have been futile with the pull out of the Atom chipset earlier this year, which was tipped to be the main chip for the highly mysterious Microsoft Surface Phones.

Forbes surmises that Intel's reaction to this move by Qualcomm will be highly impactful in terms of how the chip-making market will shape up moving forward. Whatever the former decides to do given the situation — whether that is to ramp up their 10 nm chips or follow through with their schedule, it is "important for [Intel] to respond accordingly if competitors like Qualcomm can enough traction to become a real threat."