A leak tells us about Qualcomm’s next high-end mobile processor. Overpowering and ever more sophisticated, this new SoC would nevertheless be even more expensive than its predecessor… at the risk of causing the price of the next generations of premium smartphones to skyrocket.
We dissected the new Snapdragon 8 Elite in great detail at the end of October, but today it is its successor which is slowly starting to make headlines. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, which Qualcomm is not expected to announce until fall 2025, is the subject of a first information leak this week.
We learn in particular that this new chip would be able to develop 20% additional performance, or even more, compared to the current Snapdragon 8 Elite, by relying on a new version of 3 nm engraving from TSMC.
The other side of the coin, because there would be one, would be to be found in terms of pricing. According to the Korean media Kipostcited by Android AuthorityQualcomm reportedly plans to increase “ significantly » the price of this new SoC… even if it means making it 20 to 30% more expensive than the current model.
Raising prices: a habit at Qualcomm
In detail, the leaker DigitalChatStation, often well informed, indicates on Weibo that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 would be based on the third generation of 3 nm engraving from TSMC, nicknamed “N3E” internally.
The chip would thus benefit from better energy efficiency, which would allow Qualcomm to significantly increase its frequencies to achieve a significant move upmarket in terms of performance.
As a reminder, the current Snapdragon 8 Elite “Gen 1” is based on the second generation of 3nm engraving from the Taiwanese founder.
What we remember from this information (if it is subsequently confirmed) is that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 could allow next year an even more drastic increase in performance than that observed, this year, with the passing of the torch between the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 1.
It remains to be seen whether the expected increase in prices will be likely to discourage users who will seek to renew their high-end smartphone in 2025. We know that Qualcomm has made a habit of regularly increasing the price of its chips, risks sometimes favoring the competition, notably from MediaTek, which is often more reasonable in this area.
