Samsung fans are looking forward to the Galaxy S25 series that's due early next year. It's all but confirmed now that the lineup will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset since the Exynos 2500 is now out of contention.
However, there are some fears that the Galaxy S25 might be more expensive than its predecessor because Qualcomm has raised the prices for the chipset. There's a possibility that prices for 2026's Galaxy S26 series could jump higher if Qualcomm keeps raising the price of its flagship chipset.
Qualcomm could make its next-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite chip more expensive
Some reports have suggested that Qualcomm is charging manufacturers as much as $190 for a single Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. To put that into perspective, a normal flagship device costs $999 or thereabouts. So that's almost 20% of the retail price before you factor in the price of other expensive components like the display, memory, battery, cameras, etc.
That doesn't even include the cost of production, packaging, shipping, marketing, retailer, and customer incentives, not to mention that the cost spent on R&D for the device has to be recouped before a profit is made.
Some reports suggest that Qualcomm is planning to increase the price of its 2nd gen Snapdragon 8 Elite that will power 2026 flagships. The quantum of that increase is not know but even if its just 5%, that will take the price of the chip to over $200. The main reason this may happen is because the next Snapdragon 8 Elite chip is reportedly going to be manufactured on TSMC's N3P node, an improved version of its current 3nm process.
The improved transistor density should deliver significant performance gains, up to 20% by some estimates, which could justify the higher prices since it would cost Qualcomm more to get those chips manufactured in the first place. That's going to present a challenge to device makers like Samsung, though, as their profit margins would erode further and necessitate a price increase.
Samsung already had to raise the price of the Galaxy S24 Ultra in some markets by $100 this year, and it's expected that the Galaxy S25 might get a price increase as well. Reports suggest that even the 2026 Galaxy S26 lineup will use Snapdragon chips only, meaning any significant increase for the chip prices could result in an even more expensive flagship lineup for customers.
It's pertinent to note here that semiconductor pricing is a very secretive affair and all customers are handled differently. Samsung has a unique relationship with Qualcomm. It has remained one of its biggest buyers of flagship Snapdragon chipsets and has also made them on its foundry in the past. Qualcomm provides a slightly overclocked “for Galaxy” edition of its flagship Snapdragon chipset to Samsung. So perhaps the impact may not be that drastic for our favorite company.
