Microsoft and Qualcomm announce new additions to list of major carriers supporting upcoming ARM “Always Connected” PCs running Windows 10, bringing total to 18
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet :
Context & Ripple Effects
The Always Connected PC push has been assembling piece by piece: Microsoft's emulation partnership with Qualcomm made x86 Win32 apps runnable on ARM, then Asus, HP, and Lenovo signed on as launch OEMs, and by December the first hardware — the $599 Asus NovaGo and HP Envy x2 — was unveiled with all-day battery claims.
What was still missing was the network side: an LTE laptop is only 'always connected' if carriers will activate it. This announcement closes that gap, growing committed carrier support to 18 ahead of the spring HP ship date.
First-order effects
- Buyers of the Asus NovaGo and HP Envy x2 now have a carrier path for their built-in LTE modems, removing the activation uncertainty that would otherwise stall sales of the first ARM Windows devices.
Second-order effects
- Intel answers on its own turf, partnering with Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, and HP on 5G-connected Windows 10 PCs — while Qualcomm doubles down with the Snapdragon 850, a platform purpose-built for this category rather than adapted from phones.
Third-order effects
- If carrier-backed cellular becomes table stakes for premium laptops, modem silicon turns into a competitive front door to the PC market — letting Qualcomm contest Intel's incumbent position through connectivity rather than raw CPU performance.
The trend: Windows laptops are shifting from Wi-Fi-only devices to carrier-subsidized connected products, with Qualcomm using modems to enter a market Intel has long owned.