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Qualcomm has canceled its upcoming Windows Mini PC, the Snapdragon Dev Kit, which could be a setback for some Arm developers.
The $899 Mini PC wasn't intended for general use but to help developers create Windows applications that were natively compatible with chips manufactured by semiconductor giant Arm.
Arm chips power most of the world's smartphones, however, Arm’s engineering was mostly absent from Windows laptops, which generally use CPUs from AMD and Intel. But things are changing, and Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo announced Arm-based laptops in 2024, including a new Lenovo ThinkBook powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus processors.
Announced in May 2024, the Snapdragon Dev Kit was supposed to launch in late June. However, in an Oct. 17 email to developers published on software developer Jeff Geerling's blog, Qualcomm said the Snapdragon Dev Kit "has not met our usual standards of excellence."
Customers who preordered the device will get a refund from Qualcomm, but it's unknown if those who already received the device will get their money back.
When Geerling reviewed the device, he found that it was missing an HDMI port. As The Verge notes, Richard Campbell, who founded the DEVIntersection conference series, then speculated on a podcast that may have caused production delays.