The upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 could be more expensive than its predecessor

As per some recent pieces of information, the upcoming chipset by Qualcomm for smartphones is expected to be more expensive. Reportedly, Qualcomm will unveil the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset in the coming months. In accordance with the information provided by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, the new processor’s cost will be so high that some manufacturers might omit it for their flagship devices. Instead, they will be relying on either the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 or a competitive MediaTek chipset for their next-gen flagship products.

One thing to mention here is that the source has not quoted any particular figure. However, the source claims that the upcoming processor will cost more than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The cost of Qualcomm’s most recent flagship product to manufacturers will reportedly be a staggering $160 per device. That is $50 more expensive than what it would cost Apple to produce the A16 Bionic using the same TSMC 4nm process ($150). Of course, Qualcomm sells its processors to other companies, in contrast to Apple. The cost of its chips includes profits.

Well, the increased cost of the Snapdragon chipset is troublesome for Android OEMs. Previously, things were somehow balanced with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but they don’t appear to work out with the increased prices of the Gen 3. In general, increased costs are a reflection of increased foundry costs implemented by TSMC. For this reason, Qualcomm is unable to keep the prices down. In such a situation, several manufacturers will have to opt out of the new Snapdragon processor for their flagship products.

This certainly doesn’t indicate that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 won’t be used in many flagship devices. Samsung, Xiaomi, and other firms could use the new chipset in their smartphones while keeping low profit margins. On the other hand, some companies also rely on the strategy of introducing premium phones with flagship processors at lower prices. We might see fewer devices with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in 2024 if the above-mentioned information is true.