Flagship phones are already expensive enough, but with component prices continuing to climb, 2027’s top-end smartphones could get even pricier – and for what? A slightly faster processor that most people will barely notice in everyday use?
With Qualcomm confirming that Snapdragon chip prices are going up, it might be time for phone makers to rethink what actually matters in a modern flagship. Maybe, just maybe, the answer isn’t more raw power.
Qualcomm confirms its processors are getting more expensive
During Qualcomm’s third-quarter fiscal earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Cristiano Amon confirmed what many of us were already worried about – Snapdragon chipsets are about to get more expensive, starting on 1 September.
In an interview with CNBC following the call, Amon put it very simply; “costs went up, prices are going to go up,”.
Apparently, overall profits in Qualcomm’s smartphone chip business are down 20% over the past 12 months, though I should say it still made a whopping $1.5 billion on chips in that period, so it’s not exactly a loss leader. Capitalism, guys…
Anyway, that drop is likely the main driver behind the increases in prices of the chipsets for manufacturers like Xiaomi, Samsung, Honor and Oppo that tend to use Snapdragon chipsets, especially in their top-end market.
The price increases aren’t just for upcoming chipsets; they also apply to existing chipsets, including the popular Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, from early September.
That’ll make already-expensive phones even pricier in 2027
It’d be nice to think that smartphone manufacturers would take one for the team, as it were, and absorb these ‘temporary’ component price hikes. After all, these manufacturers are reporting millions, if not billions, in revenue each year. But, of course, that’s not going to happen.
We’ve already seen price hikes across smartphones across the wider market due to AI data centre-driven RAM and storage shortages, and while that at first affected mainly cheap and mid-range phones, even top-end premium phones – which already cost in excess of £1000/$1000 depending on what you go for – are getting more expensive.
Just yesterday, a report came out suggesting that the iPhone 18 Pro could be $300 more expensive this year, and Apple, quite famously, doesn’t use Qualcomm’s smartphone chips.
Other manufacturers, however, will have to juggle not only RAM and storage increases but also increases in Snapdragon chipsets. Samsung and its in-house-developed Exynos chipsets could avoid the worst of the hikes by forgoing the custom Snapdragon chipsets it tends to use in top-end phones, but manufacturers like Oppo, Honor, Nothing, Motorola, and the like don’t have much choice.
And what does that mean? Paying more, sometimes for less, than what you would’ve a year ago.
We don’t need the power of most top-end chipsets
The worst part about this is that, really and truly, we don’t need the latest and greatest chipsets, even in most top-end phones.
Looking at benchmark performance for flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Honor Magic 8 Pro, there’s way more power under the hood than the Android operating system and the vast majority of apps can take advantage of right now.
That’s great for futureproofing, of course, meaning the chipset can continue to perform as app and OS demands grow naturally over time – but it could also be our saving grace during this component crisis.
What if, instead of going all-in on whatever the next flagship Snapdragon processor will be – likely the 8 Elite Gen 6, due for announcement sometime in the next few months – manufacturers just decided to stick with the (assumingly) cheaper 8 Elite Gen 5 for another year?
Would we even really notice day-to-day? For 99% of users, I very much doubt it. I recently used the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus for a week for a piece I was working on, a phone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset that came out close to two years ago now, and it felt every bit as fast and responsive as the Galaxy S26 Ultra does in everyday use.
A chance to focus on other elements
This all sounds a bit doom-and-gloom, but really, an idea like that could massively benefit consumers and inject a bit more fun back into the monotonous modern smartphone market.
Without new, shiny chipsets for manufacturers to ride the coattails of, with otherwise very boring, minor yearly updates, it’ll force them to focus more on other areas, be it camera performance, battery life, design, or whatever else.
That could lead to a market with more varied, interesting smartphones again, rather than another year of underwhelming stats like 7% better camera performance and 8% better standby time.
Will we actually see that? Probably not – we’ll probably see a year of familiar-looking phones that inexplicably cost way more – but one can dream…
