2024-02-02 06:55:00
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor is the promise of increased performance for our smartphones, but also skyrocketing prices. Indeed, Qualcomm continually increases the prices of its flagship chips.
© Envato
This year, many smartphone models will be equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Qualcomm’s latest flagship processor. Unfortunately, the American company has slowly but surely increased the price of its smartphone chips. Thus, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is the most expensive SoC ever designed by the company and obviously, this will be reflected in the prices of our smartphones.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 price is much higher than Gen 2
Its predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, was priced around $160 for Qualcomm customers, an already tough pill to swallow. Meanwhile, Apple’s A16 Bionic was produced at a lower price. The Apple firm showed all its competitors the possibilities offered by its material independence.
Data posted by Weibo user “HR before HW” reveals that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is 25% more expensive than Gen 2. This is not the biggest jump, the prize going to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, whose price was 169 dollars, compared to 89 dollars for the Snapdragon 870.
However, this increase is in addition to the previous one. From now on, Qualcomm would charge $200 for this flagship processor. This is a factor which would explain in particular why the Samsung Galaxy S24 marked the return of Exynos chips, after the episode of the S23, all versions of which in all markets were equipped with Snapdragon.
The consequences are visible. Thus, the prices of the Galaxy S24 and S24+ equipped with Exynos 2400 have seen their price drop compared to the previous generation. On the other hand, the Ultra version of the Galaxy S24, which stands out for its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, has seen its price increase compared to the S23 Ultra.
Read > Asus ROG Phone 8: a 165 Hz screen, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and improved cameras
Qualcomm presents smartphone makers with a choice
Smartphone manufacturers must now make a choice:
- Or increase their prices.
- Or sacrifice their margins.
It is probably a nuance of the two options that will be chosen. Prices must not explode to keep up with competition and at the same time, smartphone manufacturers remain profit-making businesses.
A priori we are not at the end of our surprises when we see the labels of the best smartphones. Recently, a Qualcomm official said that the trend would continue with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, the first benchmark of which leaked recently. Let’s hope that the competition represented by MediaTek will be able to capitalize on these prohibitive prices!
- Qualcomm continually increases the prices of its Snapdragon chips.
- The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 costs 25% more than the Gen 2 with a bill of 200 dollars for each copy.
- The price increase should continue with Gen 4 and be reflected in the price of smartphones.
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