Qualcomm has officially confirmed that it will increase prices for its Snapdragon chipsets starting September 1, a move that would most likely lead to higher prices for future Android smartphones.
The company confirmed the decision about a week after reports first surfaced that it planned to raise prices for customers purchasing Snapdragon chips.
Qualcomm says:
The semiconductor industry is experiencing a broad-based increase in input costs, across wafer fabrication, assembly, test, advanced packaging, memory and other materials.
Earlier reports by Bloomberg had said Qualcomm informed its customers, including many Android smartphone manufacturers, that higher prices would apply to Snapdragon chips shipped after September 1.
At the time, Bloomberg reported that Qualcomm told customers it had “exhausted its ability to absorb higher costs from suppliers.”
The company has not disclosed the exact size of the increase. However, previous reports suggested Snapdragon chip prices could rise by double-digit percentages, potentially increasing manufacturing costs for Android device makers.
The semiconductor industry has been under pressure from rising component costs and supply constraints. Memory prices have been among the hardest hit, while demand for chips used in artificial intelligence infrastructure has also placed additional strain on global semiconductor production.
Although Qualcomm did not provide a detailed breakdown of the factors behind the price increase, the company previously said it had made efforts to secure alternative components from new suppliers.
This is not the first time Qualcomm has increased Snapdragon pricing. In recent years, the company has repeatedly raised chipset prices.
One notable increase came with what later became the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which was reportedly priced about 30% higher than its predecessor.
Meanwhile, industry rumors suggest Qualcomm is developing a more affordable variant of its flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, potentially to offset the impact of higher pricing on smartphone manufacturers and consumers.
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