Recently, the biggest news in the tech world has been this: NVIDIA, which dominates the AI era with graphics cards, is finally going to personally make PC processors!
Microsoft, Dell, and other vendors will launch the first batch of Windows computers equipped with NVIDIA's self-developed chips at next week's COMPUTEX and Build developer conferences. This is not just a hardware upgrade, but also signals that the PC industry is about to enter a brand-new era.
In the past, when buying a high-performance computer, I looked at Intel/AMD for CPUs and Nvidia for graphics cards. In the future, NVIDIA plans to cover both of these features, directly giving you an "all-in-one chip" integrated with powerful computing power, allowing Windows computers to have top-tier performance and battery life just like Apple Macs.
| N1/N1X chips revealed
This highly anticipated chip is most likely the long-rumored N1/N1X. It was developed in collaboration between NVIDIA and MediaTek, using TSMC's advanced 3nm process, and is a highly integrated SoC (system-on-chip). Its core highlights are very hardcore:
Explosive graphics performance: The GPU integrates the Blackwell architecture, boasting up to 6144 CUDA cores, with graphics processing power expected to rival desktop-level RTX 5070 discrete graphics cards. Balanced CPU configuration: Adopts a 20-core design (10 high-performance cores + 10 high-efficiency cores), ensuring strong performance while maintaining low power consumption for daily use. AI computing power maxed out: Offers 180 to 200 TOPS of local inference computing power, perfectly supporting Microsoft Copilot+ AI PC standard, meaning you can run various large AI models offline on your computer. Memory bandwidth is astonishing: supports up to 128GB LPDDR5X unified memory, with bandwidth up to 301GB/s. Whether for AI development or intensive video editing, data throughput is effortless.
| Targeting Apple, breaking the x86 monopoly
Nvidia's real ambition to enter the PC market this time is to challenge the existing industry landscape. For a long time, the Windows CPU market has been monopolized by Intel and AMD's x86 architectures, while Apple's M-series chips, thanks to the high energy efficiency of the Arm architecture, lead far ahead in performance and battery life.
Although Qualcomm has previously tried Windows chips based on Arm architecture, the market response has been lukewarm. Now, NVIDIA enters the field with its absolute dominance in GPU and AI, seen as the Windows camp's strongest trump card to counter Apple Silicon.
This not only benefits NVIDIA and Microsoft, but also serves as a strong boost for the widespread adoption of the Arm architecture in the PC field.
| The identity leap from "parts supplier" to "platform definer."
From a business strategy perspective, this is far more than just the story of a new chip. In the past, NVIDIA was just the top "component supplier" in the PC supply chain (selling graphics cards), with the final say in the entire device held by others.
By launching a complete computing platform that integrates CPU, GPU, and NPU, NVIDIA is transforming into a "platform definer." This means it can directly provide core solutions to OEMs like Dell and HP, firmly controlling the core links of the value chain.
Combined with NVIDIA's latest financial report, where it abandons the long-standing revenue disclosure framework, it is clear that NVIDIA is trying to build a deeper ecosystem moat through self-developed CPUs and network services, targeting customers' overall capital expenditures from cloud data centers to personal terminals.
Kingtech Perspective | Focus on three core main themes
NVIDIA is using a "CUDA + Arm" combination to dig the moat of the AI ecosystem from the data center all the way to your desk. Focus on three core themes:
The penetration rate of Arm architecture on PCs is about to reach a turning point
Nvidia's entry will greatly accelerate the adoption of Arm architecture in the Windows ecosystem, and the monopoly of traditional x86 architecture will face substantial challenges.
The commercialization process of edge AI accelerated
The N1X chip's computing power of up to 200 TOPS means AI large models will be deployed on a large scale on personal computers, spurring a large number of localized AI application innovations.
The value focus of the PC industry chain has shifted
Manufacturers with AI PC manufacturing capabilities and supply chain integration advantages, as well as upstream core component suppliers, will gain higher premium rights.
Opportunity One: Deeply binding with NVIDIA PC manufacturers and ODM manufacturers
Focus on the first brands to establish deep cooperation with NVIDIA (such as Dell and Microsoft Surface) and their underlying OEMs (such as Quanta, Compal, etc.), as they are expected to benefit early from the rollout of new product volumes.
Opportunity 2: Arm server and PC ecosystem companies
With the dual breakthroughs of Arm architecture in PCs and servers, related IP licensors (such as Arm itself), advanced process foundries (such as TSMC), and supporting storage vendors (such as LPDDR5X suppliers) will all benefit in the long term.
Opportunity 3: On-device AI application developers
As powerful AI computing power is embedded in every PC, software companies capable of developing killer local AI applications (such as offline assistants, local image generation, and smart office suites) will experience a boom.
