Nvidia (NVDA) is preparing to re-enter the consumer PC market with AI-focused laptop chips expected to debut this year in models from Dell Technologies and Lenovo. The move marks one of the most significant shifts in the Windows laptop market in years.

While analysts say the near-term profit contribution will be modest, the strategic importance is hard to overstate. Nvidia wants a seat at the table as the PC industry shifts toward building artificial intelligence directly into devices, not just running it in the cloud.

For a company that has spent the last several years almost entirely focused on data center GPUs, this is a meaningful pivot back to everyday computing.

What Nvidia is actually building for laptops

Nvidia is developing system-on-a-chip processors that combine CPUs with its own GPUs, the same core technology that made it the dominant force in AI infrastructure. The design mirrors what Apple did with its M-series chips: putting everything on a single piece of silicon to deliver thinner devices, longer battery life and strong on-device AI performance.

The company is pursuing two separate partnerships to get there. The first is with MediaTek, building a chip on ARM architecture that could appear in laptops as early as the first half of 2026.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang personally confirmed the partnership at a CES investor event, according to Thurrott.

Dell and Lenovo are both reportedly developing models using this design. The second is with Intel, combining Intel CPUs with Nvidia graphics and AI components and targeting the broader Windows PC ecosystem where Intel has long been dominant.

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Together, the two tracks give Nvidia a way into almost every corner of the Windows laptop market simultaneously, from thin and light consumer devices to professional workstations.

TrendForce reports that the number of Nvidia-powered laptops in development across Dell and Lenovo alone could reach at least eight models.

The two partnerships powering Nvidia’s laptop comeback

• Nvidia and MediaTek: ARM-based SoC design, targeting thinner laptops with strong battery life and on-device AI performance, with Dell and Lenovo already working on models for 2026
• Nvidia and Intel: x86-based collaboration integrating Intel CPUs with Nvidia graphics and AI acceleration, targeting the dominant Windows ecosystem and enterprise buyers

Why Nvidia is making this move now

Nvidia’s growth story over the past three years has been almost entirely about data center GPUs.

Hyperscalers like Microsoft, Google and Amazon have spent hundreds of billions building AI infrastructure, and Nvidia has captured a dominant share of that spending. That is an extraordinary run, but it creates concentration risk. If cloud capital expenditure slows or export restrictions on advanced chips tighten further, Nvidia needs other places to grow.

Consumer laptops offer exactly that. The global laptop market ships roughly 180 to 200 million units annually, according to IDC’s PC tracker, a category Nvidia has barely participated in since the early 2010s.

Getting Nvidia’s GPU architecture and CUDA software ecosystem onto consumer devices deepens the company’s moat at every level of computing, from cloud servers down to the laptop on your desk.

Photo by I-HWA CHENG on Getty Images

There is also a competitive dimension. Apple’s MacBook lineup has set a new standard for laptop performance and efficiency that Windows manufacturers have struggled to match.

Nvidia’s SoC approach gives Dell, Lenovo and others a credible answer, positioning Windows AI laptops more directly against MacBooks on the metrics that matter most to premium buyers.

What Nvidia’s laptop push means for the broader PC market

• Windows vs Apple: Nvidia’s chips give Windows laptop makers a direct response to Apple Silicon, competing on power efficiency and AI performance for the first time
• AI at the edge: Running AI models locally on laptops reduces cloud dependency, cuts latency and keeps sensitive data off remote servers, a priority for enterprise buyers
• CUDA everywhere: Developers who build on Nvidia in the cloud can carry those workflows to an Nvidia-powered laptop, deepening ecosystem lock-in across every level of computing
• New revenue stream: Consumer chips diversify Nvidia away from data center concentration risk without requiring it to abandon its core AI infrastructure business

The hurdles Nvidia still needs to clear

Success is far from guaranteed. Analysts point to two critical factors: pricing and compatibility.

For the new laptops to gain real traction, analysts suggest systems must land under $1,500 to gain real traction, a threshold that is historically difficult when new chip architectures carry premium costs at launch.

Compatibility is the other concern, particularly for gamers. Windows on ARM still has gaps in software support, and many games and professional applications are optimized for traditional Intel x86 systems.

Buyers accustomed to Intel-based gaming laptops may hesitate until the software ecosystem catches up. Nvidia’s Intel collaboration addresses part of this by keeping x86 compatibility intact on that track, but the MediaTek ARM devices face a steeper climb with the gaming audience.

Competition is also intensifying. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite already ships in Windows ARM laptops with strong battery credentials. AMD‘s Ryzen AI 400 series delivers competitive AI performance. Intel’s Panther Lake is on the way.

Nvidia enters with a superior GPU architecture and a software ecosystem none of those rivals can match, but it is walking into a market where competitors have a head start on consumer trust and OEM relationships.

Analysts are clear-eyed that this is unlikely to move the needle on Nvidia’s earnings in the near term. The data center business is simply too large for laptop chips to compete for attention on the income statement right now. But the long-term play is straightforward: embed Nvidia’s technology across every layer of computing, from the largest AI clusters in the world to the laptop you carry to a coffee shop.

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