Indian gaming hardware company ARC has announced a strategic collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies to develop a new lineup of gaming devices, including its upcoming ARC X1 handheld.
The partnership is an important step for ARC as it prepares to enter the gaming hardware market. The company says the new devices will be designed specifically for gamers in India and other emerging markets, rather than simply adapting hardware developed for more mature markets.
ARC plans to use Qualcomm Technologies’ computing, graphics, AI and wireless connectivity technologies across its upcoming hardware portfolio. The company says the focus will be on delivering strong gaming performance while keeping power consumption, heat and portability under control.
The ARC X1 is currently the most visible product from the company. I previously reported on the ARC X1 beta testing program ahead of its planned India launch.
ARC is now making it clear that the X1 is not going to be a one-off product. The Qualcomm partnership points toward a broader hardware roadmap.
That could make this announcement more interesting than it initially sounds.
Handheld gaming devices have traditionally been dominated by companies designing products primarily for Western markets. Devices such as the Steam Deck, ROG Ally and Legion Go have shown that there is demand for portable PC gaming, but they also come with compromises around price, battery life, weight and thermals.
ARC is trying to approach the problem from an Indian market perspective. The company previously positioned itself around affordable premium handheld gaming in India, aiming to offer better hardware without pushing the price into territory that is difficult for Indian gamers to justify. The Qualcomm partnership could help with that strategy.
Qualcomm’s experience with power-efficient computing and integrated graphics gives ARC an alternative to simply chasing higher raw performance. For a handheld, performance per watt can be more important than peak performance because the hardware has to run from a relatively small battery while being held in the user’s hands.
ARC co-founder Jobin Joseph said the company believes the future of gaming hardware is about efficient performance rather than raw power. He also highlighted performance per watt as particularly important for portability, battery life and accessibility in markets such as India.
However, there are still many unanswered questions. ARC has not yet revealed the exact Qualcomm platform that will power the ARC X1 or its other upcoming devices. We also do not know the final specifications, pricing, launch date or the games the hardware will be able to run natively.
So, it would be too early to assume that the Qualcomm partnership automatically means the ARC X1 will outperform existing handhelds. What it does show is that ARC is thinking beyond its first product.
The company wants to build a portfolio of gaming devices around a platform that can combine compute performance, graphics, wireless connectivity and AI while keeping power consumption under control. That approach could become particularly interesting if ARC manages to hit a price point that makes dedicated handheld gaming more accessible in India.
This is also happening as interest in handheld gaming continues to grow. I recently looked at this broader shift in my article on why portable gaming is taking over. The market is still far from replacing PCs and consoles, but handhelds are becoming a serious category of their own.
For ARC, the challenge now is execution. The company has already attracted attention with the ARC X1 and its beta testing program. The next step will be showing that it can turn its vision into a device that delivers good gaming performance, battery life and thermals without becoming too expensive.
The Qualcomm partnership gives ARC an important technology partner, but the final hardware will decide whether the company can make a real impact.
ARC says it will reveal more details about its upcoming devices, including technical specifications, platforms and launch timelines, in the coming months. For now, the biggest takeaway is that the ARC X1 appears to be just the beginning of the company’s gaming hardware plans.
