Recently, Qualcomm has announced that the Snapdragon Summit event will occur from October 24th to 26th. This event will showcase the release of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset, which is expected to be the power behind the leading smartphones of 2025.
The microprocessor has garnered significant attention over the past few months, with speculations that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will come with a higher price tag, potentially causing an increase in the price of forthcoming flagship smartphones.
Industry expert Ming-Chi Kuo has now provided insights into the anticipated reasons for the projected rise in the cost of Qualcomm’s forthcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 microprocessor, also referred to by the codename SM8750.
Reasons Why the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Price will be Higher:
Kuo indicates that the semiconductor, anticipated to begin widespread manufacturing in the latter part of 2024, could experience a price bump ranging from 25 to 30% above what is charged for the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (SM8650) model, which is priced between $190 to $200 each. This suggests that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 might range in price from $237.50 to $260.
The main cause for this price rise is the employment of TSMC’s most recent and sophisticated N3E production module for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, according to Kuo. Although the advanced node promises better performance, it increases the cost of production.
Kuo believes that despite the increase in price, there will be a high demand for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, especially in the premium smartphone sector, particularly those equipped with AI capabilities. The production of the new chip is projected to experience a significant growth rate in orders compared to its predecessor.
Individually, Kuo also discussed the prospects for Windows on ARM (WOA) processors. He anticipates that the number of Qualcomm’s present X Elite and X Plus chips, employed in WOA gadgets, will climb to approximately 2 million units by 2024. Kuo believes this area will experience a growth rate of at least 100-200% annually in 2025.
The expert also indicates that there will be updated versions of the X Elite and X Plus chips introduced in 2025, which are expected to reduce the expense of WOA gadgets.
It is also said that Qualcomm is set to introduce a cost-effective WOA processor, known as Canim, aimed at budget-conscious devices costing between $599 and $799. This economical chip, produced on TSMC’s N4 node, is expected to maintain the same AI processing capabilities (40 TOPS) as its higher-end versions, according to Kuo.
