What you need to know
- New rumors claim Qualcomm's next flagship, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, could receive a ~20% price increase for OEM's next-gen phones.
- This price hike could deliver a ~$190 price tag for Qualcomm and a potential ~$155 tag for MediaTek's Dimensity 9400.
- Qualcomm confirmed its next chip will rock custom Oryon cores and its SVP Chris Patrick eluded to a potential price increase last year.
A new set of rumors have surfaced regarding Qualcomm's next flagship SoC and it's singing a sour tune about next-gen pricing.
The rumors stem from a post on Weibo by Digital Chat Station (DCS), which states the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could rise sharply in price for OEMs (via Android Authority). According to the tipster, Qualcomm's next chipset could see an estimated 20% price increase over last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
Nothing's set in stone, however, the tipster states Qualcomm's SoC price could jump to roughly $190.
What's more, DCS has seemingly edited their rumored post on Weibo — fortunately, there's still a screenshot of the missing addition teasing a potential price increase from MediaTek. Supposedly, the upcoming Dimensity 9400 SoC could see a similar 20% price increase for a possible $155 toll on OEMs.
DCS states these prices are purely estimations and could shift (negatively or positively) as the year progresses. Either way, next-gen phones preparing to arrive with the SD 8 Gen 4 or the Dimensity 9400 are in for a pricing change. The tipster attributed the speculated price increase to the 3nm process, stating it's "quite expensive."
A highlight of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is the existence of new, beefed-up Oryon CPUs. The company's chief marketing officer, Don McGuire detailed this new CPU during MWC 2024, stating the custom cores would be paired with the Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF system. Consumers and OEMs can expect 5G capabilities alongside satellite communication support.
The chip is rumored to hit 4.0GHz and grab the Adreno 830 as its graphics partner.
A price hike isn't surprising with all of this packed into the SoC. Qualcomm's SVP Chris Patrick stated last October that the company was aiming for "astonishing levels of performance" with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. Moreover, designing the chip with custom cores isn't cheap, but Patrick seemingly alluded to a "balance" between power, performance, and price.
With rumors doubling down on Patrick's confirmation, perhaps we'll need to brace for an impending price hike. Android Authority also cited comments from Xiaomi, stating its phones may become more expensive due to flagship SoCs becoming more expensive. The company was reportedly seeking aid from the public about how it should handle this moving forward.
Elsewhere, MediaTek's Dimensity 9400 is rumored to feature Cortex-X5, Cortex-X4, and Cortex-A7 cores alongside some impressive benchmark scores.
