The unit price of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is rumored to be $240, which is equivalent to an entry-level smartphone with decent specifications
Qualcomm is scheduled to officially announce the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in October, and it will be the first time that the company introduces a smartphone SoC featuring its in-house Oryon CPU cores. Unfortunately, the use of these custom cores is a major reason why a Qualcomm executive hinted that the chipset will be more expensive than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. However, the actual price of the SoC has yet to be revealed because it is a difficult metric to evaluate, but one tipster may have the answer as he mentions that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be 20 percent more expensive.
On Weibo, Ice Universe has revealed that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will cost $240, resulting in an increase of 20 percent compared to last year. Previously, we reported that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was estimated to cost $200, so the tipster’s calculations are accurate based on the latest figure. One key point that Ice Universe forgot to mention was whether the rumored price was for the Wi-Fi-only version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 or the one with the integrated 5G modem.
For those who forgot, a leaked specifications sheet hinted at two versions of Qualcomm’s upcoming SoC, ‘SM8750’ and ‘SM8750P.’ It was later revealed that SM8750P will lack a baseband chip, suggesting that it will be found in Wi-Fi-only versions of flagship tablets. We do not know if Qualcomm will charge a premium for using its integrated Snapdragon X80 5G modem or if the rumored price is for the entire package. It appears that we will have the answer to this question after the silicon is officially announced.
It is important to note that pinpointing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4’s price is difficult to ascertain as certain factors come into play. Naturally, Qualcomm will not treat its partners equally and will likely have made different deals with different companies. Massive technology giants like Samsung may be given more privilege regarding pricing flexibility as the firm can push through millions of smartphone shipments of its flagship series annually, resulting in higher sales for Qualcomm.
On the other hand, entities like Xiaomi are probably treated differently. In short, it is best to treat the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 pricing rumors with a pinch of salt and wait until we have more concrete data. However, we should not ignore the fact that Qualcomm switching to TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process and the transition to its custom Oryon CPU cores will have a drastic impact on cost.