I'm guessing Qualcomm is testing the waters, so to speak. Right now they seem to be competing with the MBA and lower MBP.
Maybe they didn't want to invest more or maybe they want to iron out the kinks before going all in.
This is about their 3rd generation and they have or had an exclusivity deal with MS so no other chipsets were officially supported.
The earlier WoA/Qualcomm platforms were abysmal.
Maybe they both noticed how well AS has been received and decided to aim for some of that market!
With MS allegedly only making ARM versions of the next consumer Surface Pros, they clearly are both more serious this time.
There will seemingly be x86 versions for business users, although not sure if those will be available at retail too!
There needs to be a critical mass before WoA can take off, so aiming for the low to mid range by Apple's prices makes sense.
The sort of people that require more than that are probably often more immune to jumping on a new platform.
If you laptop is a work tool, then be cautious about making such a move, hence why there will be more x86 Surface Pros.
It seems as if these new chips use a 4nm class TSMC process, so they are behind Apple there.
I see these as a first serious attempt and if it meets their expectations, then there is a lot of room for development.
I remain doubtful but it comes down partially to performance and pricing, so let's see when they are actually released and reviewed in the summer.