Digital Chat Station (DCS), known for reliable technology leaks, claimed that Qualcomm and MediaTek’s next flagship processors will be launched at higher prices than expected. According to the leak, the main reason for this price increase will be TSMC’s expensive N3E production process. It is stated that both Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 (or it may be released under another name) and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 chips will be produced with this production technology.
According to the leak, these new generation processors will be 20 percent more expensive than their previous models. With this increase, MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 processor is expected to be priced around $155, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip is expected to be priced around $190. While chipmakers don’t usually disclose their prices, a 20 percent increase suggests that last year’s flagship Dimensity 9300 was priced at $124, while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was priced around $152.
This price increase is not the first sign that the costs of chipsets are rising. In June, industry analyst Min-Chu Kuo predicted a 25-30 percent increase for upcoming chips. This rate was even higher than the figures leaked by DCS. Similarly, another reliable leak source, Ice Universe, had predicted a 20.68 percent price increase for 8 Gen 4. This rate seems more in line with DCS’s claims. Regardless of the exact rate of increase, multiple reports confirm that both flagship chipsets will increase in price this year.
The increasing costs of these chips mean that smartphone manufacturers will pass these costs on to consumers. This shows that there may be an increase in the prices of flagship smartphones that will be released in 2024 and 2025.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Dimensity 9400 will come with significant changes
So, are these price increases justified? Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor is expected to include significant changes this year. This new processor will be the first mobile chipset to include Qualcomm’s home-grown Orion cores and offers a significant performance increase based on early performance tests. MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 chip will use ARM’s most powerful Cortex-X925 core. The Dimensity 9400 recently recorded the highest AnTuTu benchmark score ever achieved on an Android phone.