Qualcomm has canceled its Windows on ARM PC dev kit, also known as the Snapdragon X Elite Developer Kit. As The Verge reports, refunds are being issued, sales have stopped and support for the kit has ceased. It was originally supposed to ship in June before the delay.
In an email sent to customers, Qualcomm attributed the whole thing to quality control. It said the mini PC “does not meet our usual standards of excellence” and “we have made the decision to pause this product and its support indefinitely.” Interestingly, some of the kits were already mailed to consumers. All units will be returned, even those that have already shipped.
As mentioned earlier, it was originally supposed to launch in June with the chips that powered those first Copilot Plus PCs. Qualcomm has not given any reason as to why it took months to decide to cancel the product.
Developer Jeff Gerling received the kit and tore it down and reviewed it. He said it landed “with a bang” and called out the lack of Linux support and the resale restrictions. Gerling also found that the unit did not have an HDMI port, even though all the chips for the internal conversion from DisplayPort to HDMI were present.
Some have speculated that this HDMI port issue caused production delays and eventually even cancellation. To that end, Qualcomm emailed customers last month to alert them that they planned to ship the dev kit with a USB-C to HDMI dongle instead of a traditional HDMI port.
Regardless of the reason for the cancellation, this kit was supposed to be a crucial item of hardware to help developers port apps to Windows on Arm. Microsoft and Qualcomm are urging developers to prepare their apps for the Snapdragon X Elite laptops.