Qualcomm’s apparently looking to increase the cost of its Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 by as much as 30%, sending Samsung into a scramble for alternatives
The SoC inside your phone is the most important component it has; it literally controls everything and is, for want of a better word, your phone’s brain and nervous system combined. But what happens when the dominant chipmaker, Qualcomm, decides to increase its prices by 30%?
When you have a massive launch just around the corner, as Samsung does with its incoming Galaxy S25 series, you immediately start scrambling to find potential solutions. And make no mistake: this is currently Samsung’s biggest headache right now.
Samsung’s Got 99 Problems, And They’re Mostly Related To Chipsets For Its Galaxy S25 Phones
Usually, Samsung would just switch over entirely to its Exynos SoC, using Qualcomm’s SD platform as sparingly as possible. But Samsung has its own set of issues with its next-gen Exynos 2500 platform, so using the Exynos 2500 exclusively or in any meaningful way might not be an option.
This is where all the recent rumors and speculation about Samsung partnering with MediaTek for the Galaxy S25 have come from: Samsung needs an SoC for its Galaxy S25 phones, Qualcomm’s platform is looking like it’ll be too expensive, and Samsung’s got major issues with Exynos 2500 yields.
The SM8750 (Snapdragon 8 Gen 4), which will enter mass production in 2H24, is expected to be priced 25–30% higher than the current flagship chip SM8650 (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) at $190–200. This price increase is primarily due to adopting TSMC’s latest and more expensive N3E node. Benefiting from the AI-driven demand for high-end smartphones, the SM8750’s shipments will grow at a high single-digit rate vs. the SM8650.
Ming Chi-Kuo
Six months out from a major phone release, as problems go, this is about as bad as it gets. And given that Samsung would be loathe to increase the cost of its next-gen Galaxy phones by 20-30% to cover the cost of Qualcomm’s Gen 4 SoCs, MediaTek would appear to be the obvious choice.
Failing that, if Samsung – as well as other brands – are forced to just eat the cost, they’ll have to find other ways / areas to make some cost savings without impairing the performance of newer models running the chipset.
Will The Galaxy S25 Run Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, Samsung’s Exynos 2500, or MediaTek’s Dimensity SoC – or Maybe All Three!?
All of the above is speculation, save for the over arching issues Samsung has with sourcing SoCs for the Galaxy S25. The MediaTek rumor is based on unverified leaks from Korea. But given its current predicament it does kind of make sense.
If Samsung is forced to use Snapdragon and the price is 30% higher than normal, it will need to reduce its usage of this chipsets massively. That means it will have to use its own Exynos 2500 platform for the bulk of its S25 models. But it has yield issues with the Exynos 2500 platform, so that means it will, in effect, be forced to leverage a third option, in this case MediaTek.
Talk about a mess. Here’s all the latest leaks and rumors about the Galaxy S25 in one place.
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